Being of Two Worlds
by Higuchimon
Summary: One former Power Ranger. One angelic female Digimon. One mission to save the world. And to fall in love with each other.
1. Angel's Fair Face

**Disclaimer:** I do not own any of the characters presented here and am not making any profit off of this whatsoever.  
**Story Title:** Being of Two Worlds  
**Chapter Title:** Angel's Fair Face  
**Story Word Count:** 8,908  
**Chapter Word Count:** 8,908  
**Rated:** PG-13  
**Romance:** Adam Park x Angewomon  
**Notes:** This is set after **Countdown To Destruction** and three years after the end of Digimon Adventure 02. Digimon are known to exist, but except for the partners of the international Chosen, have not spread out of Japan as of yet. Comments and criticism gratefully accepted.  
**Summary:** One former Power Ranger. One angelic female Digimon. One mission to save the world. And to fall in love with each other.

* * *

"Hand me the pliers, would you, Adam?" Billy Cranston didn't even bother to look up from the work he was doing as he held his hand out. Adam Park dropped the appropriate tool there carefully and leaned back in the chair he'd been occupying since his arrival only a few minutes earlier. "Thanks."

"So what are you trying to do again?" The dark-haired ex-Ranger asked his old friend.

"Simple." Billy started to work carefully. "If I can get this repaired, I _should_ be able to tap into the teleportation system that the Power Chamber used. If I can get that working, I _might_ be able to get the schematics of the system worked out."

Adam nodded slowly, processing all of this. "And if you do that, then it'll be one _big_ help getting Terra Venture off the ground, and give the people a way to get from one end of it to the other without running their legs into the ground or using up extra fuel for those little cars someone was talking about having there to get from one place to another. They're going to need all the fuel they can get, after all. No place to stop for a refill out there."

"Exactly." Billy worked carefully, the main focus of his attention on what he was doing, not the conversation. He _knew_ this was going to work. It had to work. _You really should be asking one of the Alphas for help with this._ His conscience murmured to him. He tried not to pay attention to it. He knew that it was right; but it was a point of pride for him to work this out on his own. _I can do it. It's not __**that**__ hard._

The former Green Ranger watched his friend work, and couldn't help but be reminded of all the times he'd seen that before, back during their active Ranger days. _It's like his natural state is fixing something._ He knew Billy could do so much more than that, but still, fixing things just seemed to be what he did.

"How much longer do you think you're going to be working on that thing?" Adam wondered. He hadn't come by here just to watch Billy work, no matter how nostalgic that was. "It's almost noon, you know: lunchtime."

Billy moved slightly to peek out at him. "I know. I'm only going to be another couple of minutes. This is a critical point here, though."

"I've heard _that_ before, Billy." Adam rolled his eyes slightly. "Whenever you get really wrapped up in something, everything else takes a back seat."

The ex-Blue Ranger didn't say anything else, only went back to what he'd already been doing. Adam shook his head; he knew Billy knew he was right. The only thing he could _really_ hope for was that Billy stopped for food at _some_ point. _He'd run himself into the ground and not even think twice about it if someone didn't make him stop._

He was just about to get up and make some kind of a food run when Billy pulled himself from under the consoles he'd been trying so laboriously to put back together. "All right, just one last thing to try." The young genius' fingers danced across the keyboard next to him for a moment, looking intently at the screen before him. "I'm going to need some help here, Adam."

"Help?" Adam looked a trifle confused. "What kind of help?" He wasn't quite certain just how to handle this. He'd talked to enough of the Rangers over the years, and known Billy long enough, to know that helping in one of his experiments could have some very odd side effects. This seemed doubly so when he was trying to work on anything that could be Power Ranger related.

Billy nodded, turning to look at him. "I think I have everything set up right, but the problem is, I need to test it, and it has to be on something living, and something intelligent enough to be able to understand instructions. The only thing around here that qualifies is you."

Adam blinked for a moment, running that over in his head, then grinned. "If I ever figure out that there's an insult to me in there somewhere, you're in for it, you know that?" The teasing tone took any venom that might've been in his words out of them as the two of them grinned at one another. "All right, what do I do?"

"Do you still have your communicator?" Billy asked, and Adam lifted his wrist, showing the device. "Good. Now, I'm only planning on sending you about ten miles away, so you should be able to still contact me. Much more than that, and you'd be out of range, so don't go wandering off." He started to press keys and flips switches and dials on various things. "Once you get where you're going, I want you to contact me. I'll see what kind of strain, if any, the system took and then bring you back here. That's all it should take. No sweat."

Adam nodded quickly. It seemed simple enough, but he wasn't going to take it for granted that it would stay that simple. _This __**is**__ Billy and one of his projects we're talking about._ He came over to where Billy indicated he should stand and waited. He'd lost track of all the times and ways he'd been teleported since he'd first made the acquaintance of the Power Rangers, but never had he been quite as uneasy as he was now. _This thing is in __**bad**__ shape._ He took a quick glance over everything, and tried very hard not to visibly wince.

Billy had set up a small workshop in the ruins of the Power Chamber. He'd spent weeks sorting through everything until he found all the necessary parts for the teleportation system, and then he'd gotten to work repairing it all. It had taken almost two months to get it all found, and another month afterwards to repair. Things weren't as simple as they'd been back when the Power Chamber had had all the tools he needed to get things done.

_But it looks like everything is ready now._ Adam watched a trifle nervously as Billy continued to program things. He tried very hard not to notice just how bad things were here. No one had really done anything with the ruins since their initial destruction. There was just too much else to be done, in other places. They'd been left to the elements for so long now. _Maybe we should try and clean them up or something. Maybe get a memorial put here for Zordon._

That would be something he'd talk about with the others once this was over. For now, he had this little obstacle to get through first. "Everything going all right there, Billy?"

"Yeah, just fine. You ready?"

"As ready as I'll ever be for this. I'm not ashamed to say that I'm scared." Adam fidgeted just a bit. "Let's get it done."

Billy grinned over at him. "Ready over here." He reached down, one finger hovering over the enter key. "Let's hope this works out."

"Trust me, you're not hoping _half_ as much as I am, Billy. Are you _sure_ this thing is safe?"

The ex-Blue Ranger grinned teasingly at him. "If I'm wrong, I'll pay for the next three dates you have. Deal?"

"Deal." Adam spoke the word before it actually hit him just what Billy had said. If this device wasn't safe, then the odds were very good he was going to be _dead_ or worse, and Billy was offering to pay for a meal?? He jerked his head up to glare at his friend. "_What_?"

"It's a joke, Adam. This thing is perfectly safe." Billy jabbed his finger onto the key and Adam felt the familiar and long unfelt shiver of teleportation wrap around him. Things began to dissolve into a silvery white haze, and he shivered briefly.

"This is...weird." He knew it was different from the other times he'd teleported; they had been instanteous, this was taking up much more time. "I feel so..._whoa_!!"

All of a sudden, his body had jerked, and everything around him faded away into nothingness. Then, all of that was replaced by the harsh clear noon light of the desert, and Adam dropped briefly to his knees, panting. A teleportation had _never_ taken that much out of him before, and it wasn't a good feeling.

"Adam? Adam?" He looked down at the communicator on his wrist and just managed to bring it up to his lips. "Oh, man, I hope nothing went wrong, I checked _everything_ and it seemed to be all right."

"Billy." Adam croaked the word out. "Billy, I'm okay, I just feel like I got kicked by the Super Zeo MegaZord, that's all. Kicked hard." He groaned, staring down at the desert floor beneath him. _Guess the only way to find out if I'm going to be able to do this is to __**do**__ it._ He took in several gulping breaths first, trying to gather up the nerve to try and get up.

There was a moment of silence, then Billy's voice came back. "Sounds like I still need to do some refining on it. I should be able to bring you back without killing you though."

"If it feels like this when I get back, only twice over, I think I'd rather be dead." Adam groaned as he levered himself to his feet. "But let's get it over with."

He didn't hear what, if anything, Billy said in response, only felt the teleportation grip him again. Everything seemed just like it had before at first...then there was something that felt like an explosion.

He had time for one thought. _What in the world is going on???_ Afterwards, there was nothing but pain, darkness, and disorientation for a very long time.

* * *

Angewomon coursed through the jungle, wishing for the thousandth time that she had been able to bring Hikari with her. _If something happens and I get knocked back down to Tailmon or even __**Plotmon**__, then I'm going to be in a lot of trouble._ She tried not to think too much about that, however. Trouble was best not borrowed ahead of time.

It wasn't as if she didn't have _enough_ problems to deal with, of course. Being without her partner was bad enough, but what was worrying her even more was if she somehow failed on her mission.

_Can't happen. __**Won't**__ happen._ The beautiful angel tried to cheer herself up. She hadn't failed a mission since...well...since Vamdemon had sent her to find Hikari. And it was debatable if she'd really failed that one. _I found her, but I could never have destroyed her._ She was grateful for that as well.

She came to a rest on a tree branch, looking around for a moment to sort out where she was. She had never been fond of travel in the human world, and doubly so when she wasn't even on the Earth that she knew passably well. _It's better if I'm with my partner._ That had to be part of the problem. She had spent quite a long time without Hikari, but she'd also had Wizarmon with her then, and the others of Vamdemon's service. Only Wizarmon had been her friend, but at least the others had been some form of company for her.

That was the real problem, then, she decided. She was lonely. This was the first time in all her life since coming into Vamdemon's employ that she had ever truly been _alone_. It was unnerving. _Wizarmon first, then Hikari. Then when she had to go, I had the other Chosen Digimon._ They'd been very good company for three years, but she was definitely glad when the gates had opened and Hikari was there with her again.

Since then, she hadn't been alone even for a heartbeat. Until now.

_Being alone isn't important._ She chided herself. _What's important is getting the Angelic Talisman and bringing it back._ She pushed her golden hair out of her way and looked around again, trying to find just which way she should go. _Gennai couldn't have given me a __**map**__ or something._

As she looked this way and that, she frowned briefly. _What's that?_ A small globe of white light had lit up the jungle for a moment not that far away. If she hadn't been looking in just that spot at just that moment, she probably would have missed it. "Maybe it's the Talisman!" Her eyes lit up behind her helmet for a moment, and she quickly took off to check the situation out.

It only took her a few minutes to get there, and if it had been clear terrain instead of the thick jungle everywhere, she probably could have seen what it was from where she'd been in the first place. _Where __**is**__ that thing?_ She couldn't see anything that would even resemble a light, or a fire-trail if it had been something like that. Everything seemed normal..._if you don't count that human down there._

For a heartbeat she almost missed it. Then, as her mind grasped just what it was that she had seen, she arrowed down swiftly and landed, folding her wings close to her body as much as she could to keep them out of the way of the vines and tree branches.

There he was. He was curled up in a fetal position, much bigger than most of the kids and older teenagers she tended to associate with. She couldn't see his face from the way he was laying, but she was very certain that he was strong and probably into martial arts. He had the same kind of coiled readiness that she'd seen in Ken, Iori, or Iori's grandfather Chikara. Just looking at the evidence of that strength, in the well-made muscles, and relaxed but ready posture, made a delicious shiver go all throughout her. _Now why would that affect me when I see it in him, but __**not**__ when I see it in people I know?_ Well, Chikara _was_ old, and Ken and Iori weren't all that mature physically. Whoever he was, he was definitely adult, and that made all the difference.

He also didn't seem to be moving all that much, though his regular breathing told her that he was alive. She had no idea what he was doing here, his outfit seemed more like the type someone in a town or city would wear, not something a jungle-dweller would don. _And what do you know about people who live in the jungle? The only thing you've seen of it is when you were watching old movies with Hikari and Taichi!!_

She almost jumped out of her uniform when a soft groan issued from the stranger. _I shouldn't be bothering with him. I have an important mission to deal with._ She couldn't bring herself to leave him though.

He turned over slowly, his eyes fluttering, and then opened, blinking to clear his vision quickly. "Whoa..." It took her a moment to understand what he was saying, then it sank in he was speaking English. She thanked her lucky stars that Hikari had been doing very well in English and that her partner had taken the time to educate _her_ in the foreign tongue. "That _hurt_..."

"Are you all right?" She watched him carefully, ready to fly away at a moment's notice if he turned out to be hostile. It wasn't as if their enemies didn't know where she was going...

He looked up at the sound of her voice, and his eyes widened in shock. "I...I must be seeing things...you _can't_ be an angel!!"

"And why can't I be?" Angewomon replied a tad tartly. This was not a reaction she'd had before. "I'm Angewomon, a Perfection level Angel Digimon, and I'd like to know why you think I can't be an angel!"

The stranger blushed a little as he sat up. "Well, I've never met an angel before. The only time I've ever heard of someone meeting one was if they were dead. And I hurt too much to be dead."

"You're not dead, and I know that _I'm_ not." She looked him over carefully. "Just who are you, and what are you doing here?"

"My name is Adam Park. I was helping a friend of mine with something and there was some kind of accident, and I came here." He looked around even more, then his head snapped around to her. "You're a _Digimon_??"

Angewomon nodded casually. "I always have been and I always will be. Haven't you met one before?"

"Never." Adam shook his head. "I've heard of them, but all over in New York City. I'm from California."

"I've never been there." Angewomon instinctively reached out to help him up. "But what are you doing _here_?"

Adam looked around carefully, trying to recall just where he'd seen vegetation like this before. "Where is here? I didn't think I was anywhere near a jungle."

"You're on Phaedos. At least, that's why Gennai told me this place was called." Angewomon held onto his shoulder until he seemed ready to stand on his own. "I've never been here before myself, so I don't know."

His eyes went even wider. "I'm on _Phaedos_??" The thought was definitely shocking.

"I guess you've heard of it before?" She wondered a tad dryly. From his reaction, she was very certain of her assumption. It did look as if this was one of the last places he'd ever expected to be, however.

"You could say that. I came here a long time ago with some friends of mine. I never imagined we'd come back, though. I wonder if Dulcea's still here. Maybe she can help get me home." He looked all around, then looked back at her. "What are you doing here, though? I've never heard of a Digimon who can travel off of Earth...though I guess if you can go between dimensions, that's not so impressive."

Angewomon shrugged. "I was sent here. Gennai, our guide and mentor, had me come here."

"Why?"

She looked at him for a moment, not quite certain if he was trustworthy, then remembered what she'd been told. _Phaedos and the many powers it contains are guarded by Dulcea. Anyone that she has permitted there can be trusted._ "I don't know if you've heard about it or not, but in the Digital World, there is a powerful evil Digimon called Demon. We had banished him some years ago, but now he's returned, stronger than ever. Normally the attacks of a holy Digimon such as myself, or Holy Angemon, would be able to deal with him, but he has acquired the Talisman of Shadow. As long as he wields it, he is immune to our strongest attacks." She shook her head sadly. "Demon must be stopped. If he can take over the Digital World, then it's only a matter of time until he also takes over the human world."

Adam shuddered at her description, then looked at him. "What does that have to do with what you're doing here, though?"

"According to what Gennai told us, long ago there was an opposite to the Talisman of Shadow: the Angelic Talisman. It increases the power of holy Digimon to the point that the Talisman of Shadow cannot protect against it. If I can get it from the person who is protecting it, and bring it back with me, then Demon will be defeated, and our world at peace once more."

The young man looked at her, then stood up quietly. "If you want help, I'll give it. I've never let anything evil take over this planet before, and I'm not going to start now." He looked at the incredulous expression on her face and smiled a bit. "I guess you haven't heard of the Power Rangers in the Digital World, have you?"

Angewomon knew she looked just as amazed as he had when he'd seen her, and tried not to feel too ashamed of herself. Why did she feel so _strange_ around him? This was so different from anything she'd ever felt before. She tried to keep her mind focused on what was important here. "No, I haven't." She spread her wings and started to hover a few feet off the ground, feeling a thrill when he stared at her as if he'd never seen anything like her. _And he probably hasn't._ "Why don't you tell me about them as we go along? It'll pass the time."

She had no idea why she was accepting his offer of help, but one thing she had learned during her years with Hikari: never turn down a potential friend.

* * *

Angewomon kept her eyes mostly on the path ahead, but every now and then they kept drifting over towards Adam. He moved quickly and smoothly, any after effects from his unexpected arrival here having worn off already. As they traveled, he told her about what it was to be a Power Ranger, and she found herself mentally comparing it to the sentai shows that Hikari still liked to watch. Some of the enemies and foot soldiers they had to deal with sounded quite similar to what she'd seen on some of the shows.

"I wish I'd went to visit Zack in New York. He's another former Ranger, like me, and he lives there now. We've kept in touch over the years." Adam commented as they worked their way through a particularly rough patch of jungle terrain. "The last time he e-mailed me, he told me his cousin Sam had a Digimon."

Angewomon thought for a moment, thinking back to the various Digimon she'd seen partnered with the American Chosen Children. "Oh, yes, that must be Flarerizamon's partner. The last time I visited them, he mentioned something about having a relative who once came from California, but I haven't actually met him myself."

"It might've been nice if you had went." Angewomon grinned at him. "If you had we might've met there. Hikari visits her friend Mimi there quite often, at least once a month or so. I think she's considering going to college there after she's done with high school."

Adam glanced over at her. "Do you always go where she does?"

"We're partners." Angewomon reminded him. "Partners stick together." For a moment she looked sad. "I went too long without her _not_ to stay with her."

The ex-Ranger hesitated briefly. He could tell something had disturbed the beautiful angel, but he wasn't quite certain if it were right for him to ask about it. Finally he decided on the safer question. "Where is she now? I mean, if you guys are always supposed to be together, but you're here alone..."

She appeared much more relieved by him asking that than anything else he could've asked. "I had to come alone. I didn't want to, but Gennai said it was important for some reason. He doesn't always give explanations, just tells us what is necessary for us to do."

"Sounds like someone else I know." Adam muttered under his breath, his mind flashing back to all the time he'd spent with Zordon and Dimitria.

"I'm not really even certain how I got here, there are no Digital Ports." Angewomon looked slightly concerned. "And I _really_ don't know how I'm going to get back once I get the Talisman."

Adam ducked under a tree branch and shrugged. "Since we're on Phaedos, we should be able to find Dulcea somewhere. She should be able to send us both back to where we came from."

"Good." Angewomon nodded abruptly. "The others can't be doing well. Demon's powers are too great." For a few moments she was silent, then she shook her head. "I'm surprised my English is so good. I didn't think I'd been studying _that_ well."

Adam recognized a change of subject when he heard one, but he didn't feel like protesting right now. "You speak it very well. I didn't know Digimon could do multiple languages."

"Well, since you said you'd never met a Digimon, I'd imagine there's a lot you don't know about us." She grinned at him, and he was struck all over again by just how flawless she was. He couldn't see her full face, but he didn't seem to need to. Everything else was just perfect the way it was.

"I guess you're right." He set a foot carefully on a moss-covered branch and started to haul himself up carefully. He would've preferred, really, to travel more on the ground, but around here things were too thick for any kind of pathway. "Do you have any idea how far it is to where you're going? And _are_ you going to see Dulcea?"

"I believe so. Gennai didn't give me any name for the guardian of the Talisman, but he said it was protected by the strongest of warriors."

Adam nodded. "That's Dulcea, all right. She took down Tommy in under a second flat, and I've _never_ seen anyone doing that before." Of course, he'd also been off guard, but Adam had seen other attackers try to take Tommy when he was off guard and none of them had been able to succeed.

"Do you know where to find her, then?" Angewomon looked at him hopefully, and bit back disappointment when Adam shook his head. "Then how did you meet with her the last time?"

"We were on the beach and were attacked by Tengu." Adam recalled. "They were tearing us apart, until Dulcea showed up."

He described the battle and how the guardian of the Great Power had saved them all, then brought them to the Ninjetti Temple to have their powers restored. "We haven't seen her since we left there, though."

Angewomon heard something in his voice, something she couldn't identify. It sounded just a bit like longing, but she wasn't all that certain. "Do you miss her?"

"Kind of. She was an amazing person and I wish I could've gotten to know her better." Adam carefully twisted around a tree and looked around. "This looks a little familiar." He frowned, then darted ahead quickly to peer through some trees and foliage. "I was right! Angewomon, come here, I know which way to go!"

She fluttered over to him, wincing faintly at the pain that was starting to shoot up her wings. _There's not enough space here for me to __**really**__ stretch them, and they're starting to cramp!_ She landed beside him and peered the way he was looking. "It's a bunch of old bones."

"I know." Adam grinned as he squirmed through to stand by them. "So I know how to get to Dulcea's temple from here. When we were on the way to the Monolith from the Temple, we ran into these bones here." He laid a familiar hand on one of the bones and smiled.

The smile dropped off of his face as the bones heaved up suddenly, reknitting themselves together in the blinking of an eye. Angewomon looked around quickly, then leaped up into the air, hovering a few feet off of the ground. _Not space enough to really fly, but I think I can manage to pull off a Holy Arrow. But would that work?_ Her mind had shifted almost at once into battle mode.

Adam leaped back as the bones became animate once more, forming the shape of the creature he and the others had fought way back when. "I don't mind nostalgia, but this is going just a bit too far!"

The bone-creature started to slug towards him, moving as quickly and easily as it must have in life, glowering at him with non existent eyes. It's horned head swung towards him, and he backflipped quickly, needing room to fight.

"This thing's as ugly as SkullGreymon." Angewomon hovered for a moment, her attention never leaving the creature as she prepared to attack.

"I'm gonna guess that's _really_ ugly!" Adam whirled back, one powerful leg kicking into the skull of the creature as he did so. He needed to get on the back of it, where Tommy had been, to remove the bone that kept it together. Of course that was kind of impossible when it wasn't letting him move more than a few inches, and none of those were anywhere near where he needed to be.

She nodded quickly. "You have no idea. But do you have a plan?" If he'd fought this thing before, he might know weaknesses she didn't. This wasn't a Digimon, and she didn't have any experience fighting non-Digimon enemies. "What's this thing like, anyway?"

"Trouble. That's pretty much it." Adam dodged a swing of the heavy horns and tried to grab onto one without getting skewered by them. "See that bone on it's neck?" He caught her nod out of the corner of one eye, then dodged another shake of the horns. Those things were _impossible_ to grab!! "If we can get it out, then it _should_ fall apart. That's what happened last time, anyway. That's got to be it's weak point. Tommy just yanked it out, and that stopped it, if we just do that, it could pull itself together again somehow if someone else comes along and touches it. We need to destroy it." All of that wasn't as easily spoken as it may seem, as the words came out between various dodges and flips meant to keep himself in one piece as he squirmed this way and that.

"Well, why didn't you _say_ so?" Angewomon spread her wings as wide as she could and shot up as far as the overhanging cover permitted. "Keep it busy!"

"What does she think I'm _trying_ to do?" He muttered to himself as the creature stalked closer, baleful eye sockets on him. He darted back and forth as he tried to figure out just what it was that Angewomon was doing. He couldn't see her...

Then a blazing white light lit everything, and Angewomon's voice rang out as clear as could be. He understood a little Japanese, and he mentally translated what he heard instinctively.

"_Holy Arrow!!!_"

The light grew brighter, and then something very near him exploded, and he was showered in bone fragments, dust, and churned up pieces of turf. He couldn't see anything for almost a minute, and shook his head violently to try to clear his eyes. "What _was_ that?"

"My primary attack, Holy Arrow." Angewomon was very near him, and he felt a gloved hand touch his face gently. "Are you all right? I shouldn't have fired with you so close. I didn't hurt you, did I?"

"No, I don't think so." He blinked as the dazzle faded and he could see the angel so close to him. For some unaccountable reason he blushed deeply at the sight of her concern, and glanced back to where he'd been, looking for the creature.

All he saw was a pile of bone fragments. He blinked a bit. "That's one powerful attack you've got there." He grinned over at her, and she smiled back.

"It does come in handy. Come on, if you know the way from here, let's go. I don't know about you, but I'm running out of time."

* * *

Adam knew the way now, and his feet flew across the branches and moss and all else underneath as he moved closer and closer to the Ninjetti Temple. Angewomon flew much slower than she could have in a clear sky situation, but she wasn't objecting, she didn't want to leave the only guide she had behind.

"How much farther?" She called out, ducking under a trailing vine and making certain it didn't foul her wings. _When I get home, I am __**never**__ going anywhere where I can't fly to the skies again!!_ It was almost to the point where she'd make better time walking than flying, and to a creature with wings that was very annoying.

"Not too far." He peeked around a tree and grinned to see the jungle thin out ahead of them and a mesa rising overhead. "In fact, you could probably fly there in a minute or so, but it's going to take me longer."

She came over to where he was and looked in the direction he was pointing. "That's it? That there?"

"Yeah." He grinned, remembering when they'd been going in the other direction, full of the power of the Ninjetti and hoping with all their souls that they were able to save Zordon. "Up at the top there."

A quick check of available airspace gave Angewomon the information she needed, and she started to take off. "Have you ever wanted to fly, Adam?" She grinned at him, and he looked a little confused for a moment. That cleared up when she scooped him up into her arms and spread her wings, lifting higher and higher into the air.

_You know, you could've done this earlier and saved a lot of time on this trip._ Her conscience told her. She didn't really feel like listening to it right now though, and shot back with, _No, I couldn't have. He knows the way by ground, not by air, and things look difference once you're a few hundred feet up or more. This is the best way._

She was almost certain that her conscience, who had a tendency to sound like Wizarmon, had just sort of hummed at her as if saying _Yes, dear. Whatever you say, dear._ That was the kind of thing that could really get on one's nerves.

"Whoa..." Adam had flown a few times on trips to other states and countries, but none of them had the same immediate feeling that it did to be in Angewomon's arms. He felt a thrill go down his spine at the way her arms felt around him, and tried not to pay that much attention to it.

It had been a while since his last relationship. In fact, he'd been a Ranger when it had happened. He and Tanya Sloan had dated briefly, but shortly after they'd passed their powers on to Carlos and Ashley respectively, they had both decided it would be best if they went their separate ways. Ever since then, he'd dated intermittently, but never steadily, and never the same person twice. _So why am I suddenly feeling like I'm fifteen again and wondering if the gorgeous blonde wants to date __**me**__?_

He was so close to Angewomon that it was easy to breathe in the unusual fragrance that surrounded her. It didn't quite have the aroma of perfume, not like what his mother used, but it wasn't a bad smell either. It was hard to describe, but he was certain that he liked it. It was one that was very easy to get used to as well, as was the soft sweep of her wings, and the silken feeling of her hair against his skin. _I hardly __**know**__ her, how can I..._ Adam was not going to use the phrase 'falling in love' with her. He'd never believed in love at first sight, but he had to admit, the first sight of her had been a very _very_ pleasing one.

Angewomon carefully lifted the two of them through the air, relishing the feeling of her wings flexing and bending easily. It was a good feeling. What was an even better feeling was carrying Adam. He seemed to fit in all the right places in her arms. _This is so strange. I've never met anyone like him before._ She reminded herself that she was a Digimon and he was a human, and they lived in two different countries. It wasn't workable. She had to stay with Hikari, and he had his own life to go back once he was off of Phaedos. _That doesn't mean you can't visit him._ A little voice murmured in her mind. She promptly ignored it. What was important to her right now was the Angelic Talisman and defeating Demon, nothing else.

As she rose over the mesa, she could see what was spread out all over it: a ruined temple that covered the entire top and echoed with a sacredness that resonated in the part of that was an angel Digimon. She carefully headed downwards, keeping her eyes open and every sense ready for anything that might attack. As far as she knew, this Dulcea wasn't expecting her, and she didn't want to waste time in a battle if she could get around it.

"Dulcea?" Adam called out as they landed and Angewomon put him on the ground carefully. "Dulcea, it's Adam Park...and a friend. Remember me?"

"Adam?" They both turned to see a tall woman behind them, dressed in the same green bikini and boots that she had been when he had last seen her, and carrying the same staff, her stance clearly one ready for battle. "What are you doing here?"

He grinned a bit lopsidely. "I came here by accident, really. One of Billy's projects didn't work out quite the way it was supposed to and I got thrown off course by a few trillion miles."

"I see." Dulcea came closer, her eyes on Angewomon. "And you have quite an unusual companion, I see."

Angewomon stepped forward. "Dulcea, Guardian of Phaedos, I am Angewomon, an Angel Digimon from the Digital World, partner to Yagami Hikari, the Chosen Child of Light. I was sent here by Gennai, one of the spiritual protectors of the Digital World, to acquire the Angelic Talisman. Demon has the Talisman of Shadows and is using the power it grants him to destroy all of the Digital World. The others are resisting it the best they can, but without the power of holy Digimon's attacks, there isn't much they can do to stop him. Sending him back to the Dark Ocean won't help again, he can escape from there. May I have the Angelic Talisman?"

Dulcea blinked once or twice, then shook her head sadly. "I don't have it here to give. It was placed, for reasons of safety, in the Shrine of Salnos. The journey there is not as dangerous as the one from here to the Monolith, but once you arrive there, you will be tested. I am not certain just how, the protections that were placed upon it were not made by me, but it will be a testing that could kill you." She looked from one to the other of them. "It is not a testing that one makes lightly or alone."

Adam stepped forward. "I'll go with her." The words came out of his mouth without asking permission from his brain and he did a mental doubletake. _That was __**very**__ silly of me._

"Adam?" Angewomon looked at him, and he just shrugged. "I thought you wanted to go home."

"You need help." He found a reason to keep going with her and tried to look as if he'd been planning this all along. "I'm a trained ninja, and I know a little bit about Phaedos. I'm available."

Angewomon smiled a little. "All right, if you insist." Dulcea knew her world, and if she said that it was not something that should be done alone, Angewomon was inclined to believe her. _Besides, why should I turn down free help?_

Dulcea tapped her staff on the ground. "Your willingness to help speaks very well of you, Adam, but without the Power of Ninjetti, there will be no way you can fully assist Angewomon." She raised a hand to silence him as Adam opened his mouth in unformed protest. "I can return that power to you."

Adam stared in surprise. "You can? But why..." He broke off, not entirely certain just how to form what was in his mind. If it was so easy to return the power, then why had they had to go through all the changes of power that they had endured?

"It isn't something that is done lightly. Everything must fit into it's proper time and place. Ninjetti had it's time with the group: and now it is _your_ time once again." Dulcea's depth-filled eyes pinned him in place. "Rest for now. You've had a hard journey, I can tell. I'll let you know when it's time." She motioned briefly towards one side of the ruins. "Wait there, and I will bring you both something to eat."

The two of them exchanged slightly confused and concerned glances as Dulcea vanished into the darkness surrounding the ruins, then went over to where she'd indicated they should rest. Angewomon took a careful seat, making certain to be where she could take off in a hurry if she needed to, and looked all around.

"This is a very beautiful place." She commented. She liked the way it looked, the exotic aromas that drifted through the air, with a background melody of a stream that was flowing somewhere. "I can feel how special it is. It's not hard to understand why so many secrets are protected here."

"I've dreamed about it before, after I left here." Adam settled down, leaning against a section of all. "I didn't spend that much time here, but it just stuck in my head. I've wished a lot of times that I could come back, if only for a visit." He had to grin. "Guess I got what I wanted."

The angel nodded in agreement. "I can see why you'd want to come back too. In fact, I'm not all that sure I can see why you left in the first place." She stifled a yawn and tried not to blush. _I hope I don't de-evolve. For a lot of reasons._ She avoided the thought that Adam might be attracted to a beautiful angel, but he would definitely _not_ be attracted to a white-furred cat or any of her other lesser forms. Even evolving would be a bit annoying, since she doubted he'd find a huge holy dragon any more appealing than her Tailmon level. She also avoided thinking about why this was important to her. She had a mission to deal with, and that was enough to worry about for the time being. Missions of the heart were something that could come later.

_Assuming Demon leaves enough of us left to worry about later._

* * *

The light of the moons of Phaedos framed both Adam and Angewomon as Dulcea came over. She watched for a moment, not quite certain if she wanted to awaken them. The pair slept so peacefully, both turned towards one another, and she was quite certain it was unconsciously.

_It has been quite a while since I have heard anything from the Digital World._ Phaedos had never been much for contact with the dimension that was so closely linked to Earth, since the level of technology required for it was something her people had never been that fond of.

Phaedos _had_, however, had contact with other planets where the Digital World was very much a part of their lives. The Power Rangers had never been called to deal with the Digimon since Zordon and later Dimitria had known full well that there would be Chosen Children who could deal with the problem.

_I would help if I could. But the only way that I can is to restore Adam's power._ She watched, and her lips twitched just the faintest of bits. She could see what they couldn't at the moment, and it was rather amusing. But that was for the future. For now, she had a task to do.

"Adam. Adam." She reached out and carefully shook him by the shoulder. It was nice to see that his reactions were still sharp, as he struck out at her for rousing him from his sleep. She moved back quickly to avoid the hit and chuckled. "Adam, wake up. The moons are high and it's time."

He blinked the sleep out of his eyes and looked around, his gaze lingering for just a moment on Angewomon, who hadn't yet moved. Dulcea mentally chuckled. "It's time, Adam. You two do not have that much time to waste."

The former Ranger looked back at her, then quickly got up, swinging to get the kinks that came from sleeping on the ground out. "So what do I do?"

"I'm sure you remember." Dulcea smiled quietly as she moved back over to her place, awaiting Adam. He moved over to the other side of the fire and waited.

Dulcea pulled out a handful of the dust she used, and watched him for a moment. He had changed and grown since the time she had met him, but inwardly, he was still the same. Still a warrior, a defender, a protector. She smiled to herself. He was definitely quality material.

"Buried deep within each of us is an animal spirit waiting to be released," she whispered the words with the ease of practice, then blew the dust into the fire, causing it to burst up and flare. For a moment, a sparkling field of energy surrounded Adam, and obscured him for the space of a heartbeat before fading away, leaving him garbed once more in the familiar ebony ninja attire. She came closer to him as he removed his hood and grinned at her. "Once again, Adam, you are the Frog, clever and able to survive. The power of Ninjetti is all you need from now one: remember that to those who are Ninjetti, _anything_ is possible."

He smiled quietly at her. "I remember, Dulcea. That saved our hides...and Zordon's life."

She smiled back at him, then her eyes flickered over to a point behind his shoulder. He glanced to where she seemed to be looking and saw Angewomon awake and on her feet, looking at him. At least he thought she was; it was a bit hard to tell with her helmet covering her face like that.

"That's an unusual outfit you have on now." Angewomon broke the silence and he felt his cheeks reddening a little.

"It's a Ninjetti uniform." He smoothed the fabric a little, his eyes resting the best they could on the gleaming golden coin with the symbol of the Frog. "My Ninjetti spirit animal is the Frog."

Angewomon reached out to place a gloved hand on it, and he felt a faint shiver run all through him. "It has power. Not like a Digimon's power, and it's connected to you." She frowned a little. "No, the power is _in_ you, and this is just the symbol of it."

"That's the way Ninjetti is." Dulcea told them. "The power resides within the person." Her eyes seemed to bore into Adam's for a moment. "The power can be used when it is most needed for things you can not even imagine at the moment. But when you need to...you will." She smiled at them both, raising one hand for a moment in her usual benediction. "May your animal spirit watch over you."

She faded away and where she had been there was a snowy owl, which spread white wings and flew away into the soft depths of the Phaedosian night.

"Things are definitly odd here." Angewomon shook her head lightly. "I've never seen anything quite like that before."

Adam looked over at her. "I'm sure you've seen stranger things, coming from the Digital World."

"Maybe stranger to you." The blonde told him. "To me, they're normal." She hesitated just a moment, then continued. "I don't always look like this, Adam. This is my Perfection form."

The Black Ninjetti grinned. "Well, it's probably a bit forward of me to say it, but you definitely look perfect."

She resisted the urge to blush and kept her eyes on him. "Digimon come in many levels, or stages. We start off as Digieggs, and hatch out into Baby I's, and then go to Baby II's. After that we hit Child stage, Adult, Perfection, and _maybe_ Ultimate. Ultimate Digimon are very rare, especially ones who can stay that way for long periods of time. They're usually very old and very powerful." She looked away for a moment. "Demon is an Ultimate."

Adam listened to her, then nodded. "So, you can't stay in this form forever?"

"Someday I will be able to." She promised him. "Gennai did something so I could stay like this for as long as necessary while I'm on this quest, but it won't last forever." She shrugged a touch. "I might de-evolve once this is over with though, back to my Adult stage."

"And what is that?"

There was no reason that she should be ashamed of what she was, but she hesitated just a little before telling him, "Tailmon. The nearest description I can give to you is a cat. A white cat. I can usually only evolve to Angewomon when my partner is in danger."

"I see." Adam didn't look offended or repulsed or anything. There were a lot of ways she could take that. Either he wasn't feeling even the faintest romantic hints towards her, or it didn't matter to him. She was hoping it was the latter. She had never felt romantically towards anyone, and she was starting to wonder if maybe, just maybe, she was starting to feel them towards Adam.

She turned away for a moment, intending on going back to where she'd been and finishing out her night of sleep. Whatever it was, her mission, as she had told herself repeatedly, was to get the Talisman and go back home with it. He wouldn't even be able to come with her; only Chosen Children could make it into the Digital World. _Oikawa wasn't a Chosen Child and he was there, if only for a few moments._

The angel Digimon refused to acknowledge the whisper in her mind and started back to where she'd been. She could almost feel Adam's eyes on her back, and refused to react one way or the other.

"Angewomon?" Adam asked, and she paused for a moment. "This is probably a weird question, but why do you wear that helmet that you can't see out of?"

She glanced back to him and smiled. "But I _can_ see out of it. No one else can see in, but I can see everything in my field of vision."

"Do you have eyes?" The question came blurting out, and she was fairly certain that he hadn't really _meant_ to ask it. She turned back to him.

"I do. But I can't show them. It's not considered polite for angel Digimon to remove their helmets except in very specific situations." Angewomon smiled gently. "If one of those situations happens to come up, you'll be the first to know. Let's get some rest now, though. We have a long way to go in the morning."

She settled herself back where she had been resting, and folded her wings about herself to make a makeshift blanket. Adam watched her for a few moments, thoughts of all kinds wandering through his mind. _What in the world is it like being a Digimon?_ He could hardly wrap his mind around hatching out of an egg, much less all the rest of what she'd said.

_She really is something else. __**Something**__ else, an entirely different creature entirely._ He'd seen a few pictures of Digimon, but had never really thought about them as being living, viable, intelligent creatures equal to humans. _I don't know why, though. It's not like I haven't met non-humans who look even weirder. Goldar wasn't any prize for looks or intelligence, that's for sure._

He made his way back over there to where he'd been and resumed his seat, this time finding that things were a lot more comfortable. His Ninjetti suit probably had something to do with it, and he found himself grateful all over again for it. He didn't quite feel too tired right at the moment, however. He knew he _was_, he just didn't feel that way right now. Indeed, his mind felt preternaturally clear and sharp.

Adam looked up to see the moons of Phaedos treading their great dance with the stars overhead, and heard a light wind that touched his face with invisible fingers that sent chills of pleasure down his back. It had been quite a while since he'd been camping, and he missed it. This was a nice change, if an unexpected one. He hadn't planned for this vacation, but there was no way he was going to back out of it.

_I need to send a message to Billy somehow, he's probably going out of his mind with worry. He needs to know what's going on, where I am. Maybe Dulcea can do it. I'm guessing I can get home with the Great Power, it worked last time. So that won't be a problem. But what about Angewomon? I can't really just __**leave**__ her._ The thought kept on worrying at him until he deliberately shoved it out of his mind and kept on watching the stars go by. His eyes flicked briefly over to Angewomon, and smiled to see the light framing her so sweetly. She had called her partner the Chosen of Light, and he could see the light shining in her. He never even noticed when he fell asleep.

**To Be Continued**


	2. The Neola Jungle

**Disclaimer:** I do not own any of the characters presented here and am not making any profit off of this whatsoever.  
**Story Title:** Being of Two Worlds  
**Chapter Title:** The Neola Jungle  
**Story Word Count:** 18,543  
**Chapter Word Count:** 9,635  
**Rated:** PG-13  
**Romance:** Adam Park x Angewomon  
**Notes:** This is set after **Countdown To Destruction** and three years after the end of Digimon Adventure 02. Digimon are known to exist, but except for the partners of the international Chosen, have not spread out of Japan as of yet. Comments and criticism gratefully accepted.  
**Summary:** One former Power Ranger. One angelic female Digimon. One mission to save the world. And to fall in love with each other.

* * *

The sun hadn't been up for an hour before soft clad feet and whisper quiet wings were slipping through the jungles of Phaedos, on their way towards the Shrine. When they had awakened, the parchment had been waiting for them along with a hearty breakfast that they'd both devoured with a very good will. Angewomon explained that a Digimon was stronger the more they ate, and it was impossible to attack or evolve without being properly fed. It was most visible when one was a Child level Digimon, but she had made it a point to always be full-fed.

"I think we're going the right way." Adam checked the route that had been marked against the nearest landmarks, and looked up to where Angewomon was perched on a tree, resting briefly from checking ahead of them for anything that could cause trouble. "I'm no expert, but I'm fairly sure."

Angewomon nodded. "That's good enough for me." She spread her wings and started off again. Adam had considered asking her for a lift, but with the map not being drawn for those who traveled by air, he wasn't sure if the landmarks would look quite the same from up there, and he didn't know just how much she could carry for long periods of time. He was going to have to make it on his own.

He rolled up the map and tucked it away in a fold of his uniform, then headed into the jungle. The dreams he'd had the night before were quite the fodder of fantasy, and part of the reason he wanted to stay on the ground wasn't just to spare her an extra weight, but to deal with what he'd been thinking.

_Okay, she's gorgeous, what I can see of her, anyway. She's a great fighter. She's a very nice person. Or Digimon. Or whatever. She's very focused on this goal of hers, though. I don't know if there's even a chance that she could __**want**__ to see me again after this is over with. We only met by chance. It could've been Billy here. He'd go crazy over the chance to talk to a real live Digimon._ He could only imagine how much Billy was going to be envying him, not to mention bawling him out for not coming back when he had a chance to.

Adam moved carefully around a thick tree and looked up to see where Angewomon was. She never moved too fast or went too far ahead of him. They'd agreed that she would stay in sight as much as she could for this trip, to make certain they both got where they were going at the same time. _She's the one who has to go there. I'm just along as a bodyguard._ The Black Ninjetti wanted to be under no illusions about his presence.

_I wonder what it's like to fly like that._ The thought of being able to fly, without a Zord or anything like that, appealed to him. He had come to terms with being the Frog over the years, but at times he envied those who had been able to fly.

He took a brief moment to pause and catch his breath after hurrying ahead another few yards. He had kept up his martial arts since passing on his powers, but there was a difference in being in fighting trim and being used to walking on, and on, and on for amazing amounts of time. _I'm definitely going to start walking more._

It wasn't possible to tell just how far they'd come that morning. He just knew it had been long enough that he couldn't see the mesa any longer, and hadn't been able to for a while. _I hope we can find some place to break for lunch._ There'd been so much to the breakfast Dulcea had provided that the leftovers had been wrapped up in some handkerchiefs Adam had been able to retrieve that he'd originally had in his regular clothes. _I still don't know how I got them since I've changed into my Ninjetti outfit. I guess that's something the Power fixes. If I need it, I'll have it._

He hadn't had a chance to talk to Dulcea about sending any kind of message to Billy yet, and that was starting to nag at him incessantly. He knew that Angewomon had no way of communicating with his friend, so he hadn't bothered her with it. _If I could, I'd make it so she could communicate with her partner. She looks really upset about it sometimes._ He hadn't been able to see Angewomon close up for very long on this morning's trek, but the few times he'd been able to catch a glimpse of her, she had looked as if something very serious was on her mind.

Far above him, but not too far, Angewomon tilted slightly as the winds wrapped around her. She had tried her best to keep her thoughts on her journey and on her partner, not her companion, but her mind was starting to wander off pathways it had never done before.

She knew exactly how impossible it was. She told herself repeatedly, but her imagination absolutely did not care. Her imagination was busy envisioning taking Adam to all the beautiful spots of the Digital World that she had found and seeing the look of wonder in his rich dark eyes. _He'd love the Great Falls. And the Village of Beginnings._

Hearing her imagination make such plans was enough to drive her to madness, but she didn't have time to go crazy. Maybe after she was done with this. After all, it really _was_ a harmless fantasy, as long as she remained aware it _was_ a fantasy and nothing that could actually happen. It would pass the time as they traveled, if nothing else.

_This trip is taking longer than I thought._ She didn't know if there was any difference in the measurement of time between here and Japan, but she knew how long she'd been gone, and they were going to be at least another day at this, maybe longer. Maybe too long. _I'll know if anything happens to Hikari._ The bond between partner and Digimon was strong enough for that. They couldn't read each other's minds, but when something fatal happened to one's partner, the other could no longer continue, and would be terminated immediately, in a form of backlash. She shuddered as she recalled the moment that had been proven to them. It had been one of the international Chosen Children, Catherine, who had been the one.

The memory was clear and sharp in her mind. Catherine's Floramon had evolved to Kiwimon, and the two of them had been part of the force fighting some of Demon's minions, a Devidramon and a Phantomon. Hikari and Angewomon had been coming to help their team out, since one of that team had already been knocked out and another was near deletion himself. Angewomon shuddered as she recalled the nightmarish scene they'd come in on. The five member team had been nearly demolished.

It had been Phantomon. They had seen this creature before; it was Demon's most loyal servant. Unlike the one they had fought when Vamdemon was searching for Hikari, this one wasn't prone to talk, only action. As far as she could remember, _none_ of them had ever heard him say anything, really, not even shouting his attack the way so many of them did. He simply Soul Chopped. Over and over.

_None of them were prepared for anything like that. A Perfection level and an Adult level, both virus types. They tried, but they didn't have a lot of experience in fighting. They __**tried**__._

Viral types, however, were something that she had more than enough experience against, and she knew their weaknesses. She would've been able to handle them with ease, maybe even taking both out at once. Her attack had been getting stronger with age and experience.

Maybe that was why when they'd appeared flying towards the fight, the Devidramon and Phantomon had stepped up the forces. Catherine had been a little apart from the group, and Phantomon had rushed her quickly, knocking Kiwimon out of the way with a backhanded swipe of the scythe he carried, and seizing the blonde in a grip with its free hand.

_It was like some kind of a nightmare. As fast as I could fly, I couldn't fly fast enough to get to her._ Angewomon refused to think about how the death had happened. One moment Catherine had been a lovely, vibrant girl with her whole life ahead of her, then, with no more than a twist of Phantomon's covered hands, all of that was over with. In that moment, Kiwimon had sent up a howl of agony that seemed to have Catherine's name in it, and then fell over. There was a moment of pure silence, and then Kiwimon had faded away into digital dust. When they had been able to check in with Elecmon at the Village of Beginnings, they'd found that no new egg had appeared there when Kiwimon had vanished.

Angewomon shuddered, thrusting the memory away again as she had so many times before. She didn't want to forget the death, but it was one of those things she didn't want to think about. _That's when we all started to get a lot more careful in battles._

She pushed the thoughts away again. The only way they could make certain this didn't happen to anyone else was to stop Demon and all of his troops, once and for all. _That's what I'm here for._ She twisted a little in the wind, and landed neatly on the branch of a tree. The sun was getting closer and closer to the zenith, which meant it was almost time for lunch.

_Where is Adam?_ She looked down to the ground, checking for her companion. _He's got the food._ It was harder to see him in his black suit than it had been before, especially since something about being a Ninjetti in the Neola Jungle seemed to make him nearly invisible. She'd almost landed right beside him without seeing him when they'd stopped to check the map together the first time. This jungle and the Ninjetti went hand in hand together, and she was not at all certain that part of the reason they weren't being approached by anything that could attack was _because_ he was a Ninjetti. Though it was unspoken, Dulcea ruled Phaedos, and because she was Ninjetti, the Ninjetti were undisturbed here.

She let her mind drift a little as she waited for him, thinking back to when she'd left the others. The only reason she'd been chosen for this was because she was a Perfection level Digimon. Angemon had wanted to go, but Gennai had told him it was too dangerous for him. _At least, that's the only reason I was __**told**__._ She wouldn't have been all that surprised if there had been other reasons and Gennai simply hadn't told her what they were. _He's like that._

"Angewomon?" She almost jumped when Adam almost seemed to _appear_ right next to her. She was supposed to be a warrior, not drifting off into reveries at the drop of a feather!! "Angewomon, are you all right?"

"I'm fine." She smiled at him, and she could see something in his eyes, something that could be attraction or who knew what. She couldn't be at all certain what she wanted it to be either. "Come on, let's take a break." She knew she needed it.

* * *

They had been told it would take over a day for them to get to where they were going, but being told a trip is long and experiencing a long trip are two very different things. Despite the fact both were battle hardened fighters, by the time the sun was about to set in the western sky, they were both ready to drop over from exhaustion. That in and of itself was the only reason that Angewomon even let them stop.

"We're going to have to eat, too." Adam checked the food situation and wasn't very happy with it. "We cleaned out all the leftovers at lunch."

Angewomon nodded as she thought. "I saw some fruit trees not that far from here, I think. And then there's that stream there. There should be some fish in there." She indicated the glistening and chattering water coursing across the land. "So it shouldn't be a problem to get fed."

"That's the nice part of Phaedos: you can get what you need if you're willing to work for it." He grinned, then frowned. "I don't think I have anything to start a fire with, so how are we going to cook any fish?"

The golden-haired angel frowned, thinking. "I might be able to get something going. I learned about things like this when I was...younger."

He wanted to ask just what she meant by that, but she didn't seem very inclined to answer questions as she headed for the stream. He watched as she hovered over it, her eyes fixing on the twisting forms moving through it. When it looked as if she were going to look and see he wasn't doing anything but watch her, he quickly started to gather up firewood.

"Where did you say those fruit trees were?" He asked once he had laid in a good stock of brush and branches, and made certain there was enough dry space around so they wouldn't set off a mass blaze. "I can be getting them while you're getting the fish. Speaking of that, how's the luck with fishing going?"

A huge silver-sided fish landed on the side of the river even as he spoke. "Very well." She looked over at him, then pointed. "I saw the fruit trees that way. They're not too far, they should be easy to find."

"All right." He headed off that way, feeling glad he could do something to pull his weight on this trek that was more than just being a bodyguard. _Of course, she probably could've done all of this without me, it just would have taken her longer. And I could do it without her, too. It's nicer together._

It didn't take very long for them to get everything put together, it turned out. By the time he had gathered up enough fruit, she had a tidy little fire going, and the fish were roasting in it. "You are _good._" He grinned at her. "How'd you do all of that?"

"Well, I started the fire with these." She tapped a stone he'd not noticed beside her. "Hikari taught me about flint and steel when we would go camping with the others." He was almost certain that she had blushed when she spoke next. "This is flint, and I was able to strike it against my helmet." She tapped her helmet, which definitely looked stronger than steel, certainly able to strike a spark. "It took a couple of tries, but I got it done."

Adam nodded as he divided the fruit into two equal piles. "You're definitely useful to have around." He grinned at her.

She grinned back. "So I've been told."

The two of them chatted in quiet companionship as they waited for the food to cook and then fell into silence during the meal afterwards.

"I don't like taking so much time." Angewomon fidgeted nervously as she lay back against a tree, her white wings folded all around her the best they could. They couldn't flex and bend as much as she would've liked for this, but she needed some kind of covering, and they were all that she had. "Every moment we're here is another that Demon could be murdering people I care about."

Adam found himself perfectly warm and comfortable in his Ninjetti suit, and watched her from the other side of the clearing they'd chosen for their nightly rest. "I know how you feel. That's how I felt when we came here the first time. Ivan Ooze had already attacked our headquarters, and our mentor was in really bad shape."

She looked over at him, a curious tilt to her head. "Tell me how it happened?" Her lips curved into a weak smile lightly. "Maybe it'll get my mind off _my_ problems."

He was more than happy to oblige. "Well, it was a few years ago. I was about fifteen then. I'd been a Ranger for a few months already, along with Tommy, Aisha, Kimberly, Billy, and Rocky. Zordon was our mentor. He was trapped in a time warp that prevented him from aging or dying, and had guided us against a lot of really weird enemies. I was the Black Ranger then. We'd been fighting Zedd and Rita, a married pair of enemies, for a while, and we were fairly used to their actions. They sent down a monster, maybe some foot soldiers, and we defeated them, and they did the same thing a few days later. It was a routine."

Adam sighed briefly, remembering as he talked. "It was a routine that nearly got us killed." He shuddered as the day came back to him in vivid clarity. "We were doing some parachute jumping to raise money for a local charity, and after we'd finished that, we headed out for some roller blading to relax. Right in the middle of our fun, we got a call that something was wrong. It turned out that some construction workers had unearthed something that was supposed to stay buried forever. They didn't know it, but they'd uncovered the hyperlock chamber where Ivan Ooze was contained.

"We pieced the rest of this together later, but that night, Rita and Zedd came to where the chamber was being guarded, and released Ivan. They made an agreement with him to destroy us and Zordon, and he got to work on that right away. We met him there, and had to fight the Ooze things he made to battle us."

Angewomon leaned back and lost herself in the spell of his words as he told of the evil Ivan Ooze's attack on their headquarters, the Command Center, and how he had destroyed the time warp that had kept their mentor safe, and in doing both of those things had destroyed their Ranger powers. The only way to restore those powers, defeat Ooze, and save Zordon had been to make a journey to a planet that they had never heard of before and search for the Great Power, with a very short clock ticking away.

_They were just children. Not that much older than Jyou was when he first came to the Digital World. And they had that kind of courage._ She liked that, for a lot of reasons. She listened as Adam told of each of their animal spirit guardians, and felt a faint twinge of jealousy as he mentioned the kiss that Dulcea had given him on his forehead.

As the tale wound to it's close, she yawned slightly, her mind starting to edge into the sleep of near exhaustion. Her instincts were keeping her awake, though. This was a strange place, and even with a Ninjetti there, she couldn't quite bring herself to sleep without setting some kind of guard. _Legacy of spending nights in the Digital World where you have to guard against everything._ She turned slightly and looked at him. "That was a wonderful story. You and your friends were very brave."

Was he blushing? It was too dark to tell, really. "Thanks. But you and _your_ friends have done a lot of brave things as well. Fighting that Demon guy..."

"Fighting is what Digimon are made for. We get stronger as we get older and more experienced, and if we don't have a partner, that's what can make us evolve." She explained. "Most good Digimon just fight to survive, defending themselves and their homes and Digimon they care about. But evil Digimon...they get _their_ experience and strength from hurting others. Vamdemon..." Her voice faltered slightly as she thought back to those long ago days, and she shook her head. "They will hurt others for pleasure, just to see them writhe in pain."

Adam shuddered at the thought. "Sounds like something Zedd would've appreciated back in the old days."

"Old days?" She welcomed the chance to have a slight subject shift. Thinking about her one time master was not something she particularly felt like doing, especially with the darkness pressing in all around them.

"Well, Zordon got captured by his enemy, Dark Spectre, who was the overlord of all the other enemies we'd faced over the years, and some we didn't even know about. Spectre was draining his powers, slowly killing him. The people that my friends and I had passed our powers onto went to look for him." He gave a mirthless chuckle. "As it turned out, they only found him when he was brought back to Earth to have to watch the invasion. All over the universe, as far as we could hear, the forces of evil were conquering and defeating all the fighters that could be brought against them. The only way to save everything was for Andros, the Red Ranger of the moment, to shatter the prison that kept Zordon confined and his power draining away. It killed Zordon, but in the way he wanted to die. He was able to destroy all the powers of evil that were fighting against us, and many of them were reformed, turned into humans the way they had been long ago, given a second chance to live their lives the way _they_ wanted to. Zedd and Rita were two of them." He shrugged into the tree behind him. "The last I heard of them, they'd been living on a farm on Earth somewhere, and had had a couple of kids. They're really nice people now, but they used to be pure evil."

Angewomon felt herself drifting into sleep, and managed to murmur, "Good for them. Everyone should have a second chance." _Except Demon._ Even if they'd wanted to give the evil Ultimate a second chance, the only thing he'd do with it would be to destroy, wreck, and maim even more.

Adam watched as her breathing became slow and regular, a sure sign that she had went to sleep. He wanted to do the same thing himself, but he couldn't bring himself to just yet. All he wanted to do was sit there and watch her. There wasn't much of her that he could see, but he was enjoying what view he had.

_I wonder if she'd tell me about some of the things that have happened to __**her**__._ He was certain some not very nice things had happened to her, but she hadn't talked that much about them. He couldn't explain why he wanted to learn so much about her, but it was like a hunger inside. _She's a mystery wrapped in an enigma, shrouded by confusion._ And he'd _always_ enjoyed solving mysteries.

A long stream of golden hair fell away from her as she shifted slightly in her slumber, and he watched it for a moment, his fingers itching to touch it to see if it was as soft and satiny as he remembered from when she'd picked him up in her arms. He hesitated briefly, then reached over to gently tuck it back where it belonged. She shifted a bit towards him, and he froze, wondering if she was going to wake up. _And what do I do if she __**does**__?_ The obvious answer was just to tell her the truth, but that wouldn't come anywhere near explaining just how much he'd been itching to touch her hair, to feel his fingers against her smooth cheek, to find out if there was any moral, ethical, religious, cultural, or any other kind of objections that she knew of to them starting to date.

_I have to be reasonable._ He told himself as he leaned back, the memory of that light touch singing in his fingertips. _She's involved in a war anyway, and if something happens...what if __**she**__ has to sacrifice herself the way Zordon sacrificed __**him**__self? Not much of a relationship possible there._

He sighed to himself as he leaned back. Some days, nothing just seemed to work out right.

* * *

Pale golden light tapped at a pair of closed eyes, and the owner of said eyes grumbled and turned over, throwing a black clad hand to protect his sleep from the insistent fingers of morning. They succeeded only for a few short minutes, however. The light became too insistent, baking into his retinas and demanding that he move.

Adam sat up, remembering all over again why he hated having his bed anywhere near a window at home. He enjoyed the sunlight, but on those rare mornings when he slept in late enough, he _hated_ being awakened by being too hot to sleep. And that happened all too often in California.

A quick look around told him that Angewomon was already awake, as she was standing in the clearing to one side of the remains of their fire, her wings stretching and bending carefully as she worked any tension out of them from the night before. They gleamed in the morning light, a gleaming whiteness that was more brilliant than anything he could ever remember seeing in his life. He had never really thought that much about Heaven or angels or anything like that before meeting her, but now he could easily see why she was called _Ange_womon. She was simply beautiful.

"Good morning." He watched her for a few moments before speaking, enjoying seeing her first thing. "Sleep well?"

"As well as I could. I've been used to sleeping on Hikari's bed for the last few years, so this isn't quite what I'm used to." She stretched again, then folded them against her back. "Nothing I can't handle, though. I've had worse beds."

He spoke before really thinking about what he was saying. "What kind of worse beds?"

The angel looked back at him for a moment, and he had the impression if he'd been able to see her full face he would have seen a curious, perhaps debating expression. Then, she seemed to come to a decision and nodded slightly to herself. "When I was growing up, I spent the earliest years of my life alone and without any friends or a place to call my own. Unless you counted the little cave I lived in then."

She watched as he stood up and started over to her, then picked up one of the leftover pieces of fish from the previous night to use as her breakfast. "Is there anything else?" He asked quietly, also snagging a leftover to break his fast with.

"A lot more." She chewed thoughtfully, then continued. "There were eight of us in the beginning. We were being modified to be attached to our partners, their Digivices and Crests. One of our enemies, Piemon, attacked the base where Gennai, our mentor, and those like him were working on us. We were only eggs then. Piemon tried to steal all of it, the eggs, the Crests, everything he could. He only got away with the Crests and Tags. Gennai was able to save the eggs and Digivices, though. As he was taking them to safety, one of the eggs and Digivices fell and was lost." She sighed quietly in memory. Sometimes she thought she could still remember the sensation of falling forever...

He watched her, but said nothing, and soon she continued. "That egg hatched out into Yukimibotamon: me. I was all alone, and I had nothing to tell me what I was for. All I knew was that I was Yukimibotamon and I had to find the person I was meant for. It was like an emptiness in me. A hatchling Digimon has very weak attacks, if any at all, and is one of the most vulnerable creatures imaginable. Think of a human baby, alone and without anyone to take care of it, in the heart of the wilderness, with almost everything out there wanting to destroy it because that will increase _their_ experience."

Adam shuddered just at the thought of it, but she wasn't done. "I managed to stay alive. I had a cave. Small, dirt floor, terrible ventilation, but it was mine. I protected it the only way I could: I hid if anything came near that looked like it might want to try and take it away from me. I didn't have any arms or legs or anything else. I ate what I could, drank the best I could, and just survived. It took a few years, but I managed to evolve up to Nyaromon. I was a little better off. I had an attack that could do a little bit of damage now, but most of the creatures that were around there wouldn't hurt me. I won't say we were friends. I was too busy trying to find what it was I needed to really make friends.

"Evolving without a partner is hard. I finally made it up to Plotmon: my Child stage. I finally had legs and a decent attack, something that could hurt if I needed it to. So I went searching for whatever it was that was making me need someone so very badly. I traveled everywhere, but no one I talked to knew who I needed or what I was even talking about."

He could see the sadness that drooped her wings and took the sparkle away from her slowly enfolding her. "Then I met _him_. Vamdemon. He took me in and made me his slave. I had nowhere else to go, and I was giving up on ever finding the one I needed. He trained me to serve him in every way he wanted. I had to obey him. I had no choice. It was either that or be destroyed, and I knew I couldn't be. Someone still needed me."

She sighed quietly and walked a few feet away, shaking her head. "I became Tailmon while I was with him. My Adult stage. I hoped if I ever reached Perfection that I'd be able to leave him somehow, but I had no idea of what to do then. But it wasn't all horrible serving him. I made my first friend there. Wizarmon. I saved him from dying, and he joined Vamdemon's troops to keep an eye on me. It was after that happened that Vamdemon started to step up my training. He scarred me." Her bare hand touched the gloved one gently but didn't remove the protecting garment. "I forced myself to forget my past, to only concentrate on what I was learning and how to serve him. I became as hard and cold as I could. I lost myself."

Adam shuddered at the words. _I can't even imagine what that must have been like._ "What happened then?"

"I lived with Vamdemon for a long time. I have no idea how long. Time didn't mean much to me then. Then Vamdemon ordered me to gather an army of the strongest and most ferocious Digimon I could get. We were going to make a trip to the world of humans. He didn't tell me why right away. He only told me what I needed to know then. He never trusted me fully." Her lips curved into a gentle and amused smile. "And he definitely shouldn't have. Once we got to Earth, we all spread out, searching for the Eighth Chosen Child. Vamdemon told us very little of her, only that the fake Crests he had were going to be able to guide us to her. He didn't tell us that the Crest was the Crest of Light, and that because of that, it was one of the few things that could destroy him. That was why he wanted her gone: she represented the one thing that he, as a vampire Digimon feared: total annihilation."

Adam nodded; he could see why that would be something a vampire wouldn't be too fond of. _Maybe she should talk to Carlos one day. She wasn't a vampire, but she had to serve one the way Carlos had to deal with Count Nocturne for a while._ "I guess that was when you met Hikari?"

"It was." Angewomon glanced back at him and smiled a little. "It was amazing, really. I felt _whole_ for the first time in my life. Vamdemon was very right not to trust me, like I said. My very first attack was on him. I fired it right into his heart. He couldn't stand up to it, even though he'd been able to wave away every other attack that tried to get through to him. I know all the other Chosen and their partners were getting _very_ tired of seeing him just wave his hands and have their attacks fade away like nothing. Even Angemon couldn't do more than knock him off balance." She shook her head a touch and looked forward. "We can discuss this later, though. We're wasting time."

He wanted to ask a lot more questions, but he knew she was right. Both of them quickly finished their breakfasts, then Adam scattered the remains of the fire and made certain everything was stamped out, and both of them took their direction from the map. "We should get there in a few hours. It doesn't look that far."

Angewomon nodded, checking for air traffic before taking off. There didn't seem to be too many creatures that could fly on Phaedos, so she had the sky almost exclusively to herself, and that was enough of a rarity for her to want to enjoy it as much as she could. The skies of the Digital World and Earth were often clogged with winged things of all kinds, and getting clear air space was the next thing to impossible. _I wouldn't mind having Adam with me when I flew, though._ She was certain she was blushing, and found herself grateful that she wasn't facing Adam at that moment. "Let's get going." She leaped up, finding her flying height easily, and watched as he started walking, leaping with agile grace over the roots and branches. _He looks so handsome. No, not just looks, he __**is**__ handsome. So different from what I'm used to, but still so similar too. Such a strong, handsome face. A wonderful body. A mind...ohh, that mind._

She was starting to think that it was a face, a body, and a mind she could get _very_ used to having around her.

* * *

Adam looked down at the map and frowned. This wasn't really what he'd been expecting, not on Phaedos. Jungles, yes, rivers, yes, maybe even a forest somewhere, or a swamp, sometimes they all came in a mismatched polyglot. You just couldn't be certain. But _this_ was not what he'd been thinking at all.

They'd only been traveling for a short while, less than an hour, and now the trip was taking a turn they hadn't expected with this alteration. Said alteration rose up over them in splendid snow-capped majesty: a mountain that reached up far to the sky. Not a mountain range, but a simple smooth peak unlike anything he'd ever seen in his life.

_And I'm willing to bet it's the only one of it's kind._ Adam looked over as Angewomon landed beside him and nodded his awareness of her presence. "If I'm reading this map right, the Shrine of Salnos we're looking for is inside this mountain."

Angewomon glanced towards it and frowned. "Well, if that's where it is, then that's where we have to go. But you look upset about it."

"I am and I'm not. I know we have to go there, but well...I've studied geography and mountains like this just do _not_ exist in normal situations. It's situated right in the middle of a jungle, but there's _nothing_ growing on it. A proper jungle mountain would have all kinds of growing things all around it." He shook his head. "I guess I should be used to Phaedos having weird things on it, but it just bothers me."

"Not me. I've seen a lot weirder things in the Digital World. Or what you'd call weird, anyway." She smiled a bit. "There's a place that my friend Yamato calls _The Forest of Irrelevant Roadsigns_. It never had a name before that, so when he started to call it that, it kind of caught on."

Adam slid his eyes towards her. "Why did he call it that?"

She started towards the mountain, trusting her feet more than her wings in that enclosed area. "Because that's what it is. Road signs grow there, all over the place. Maybe I'll take you to see it one day."

He blinked in surprise, then hurried to catch up with her. "I didn't know anyone could go to the Digital World who wasn't one of your group."

"That's how it was in the old days, and we try to make most people think that now," Angewomon told him. "But really, anyone can go, if they have an open gate near them and someone who is a Chosen Child or a Digimon with them. We don't let most people know that because most people don't _need_ to know that. The Digital World is our home, and you don't invite strangers into your home."

Adam couldn't quite catch a glimpse of her face, but he was certain something special was about to happen. It just rang all through him. "But...I'm a stranger?" It was definitely more of a question than a statement.

"You're not a stranger to me, not anymore." She looked back towards him and smiled warmly. "I think I can take you with me, and I don't think anyone would mind. That is, if you'd like to come. Once this business with Demon is finished, of course."

He nodded slowly. "I think I _would_ like that. Once it's finished, as you said." He bit his lip slightly, wondering if this was supposed to be his cue to try something that would indicate that he liked her a lot more than he liked most people, then hesitated a fraction. _I haven't studied __**that**__ much on the Japanese culture, but I'm fairly sure even friends don't just randomly kiss or something like that. Take it slow. Take it __**easy**__. Don't scare her or offend her. Remember that Holy Arrow of hers. I don't think she'd do that to me, but better safe than sorry._

His mind raced for a moment as they walked along, then fastened on something that might help. "If this is rude, feel free to tell me and don't bother answering." He phrased things carefully. "But do Digimon...date or anything like that? You know, fall in love, get married..."

Angewomon turned her head towards him and for a moment he was afraid that he _had_ transgressed somehow. Then she spoke. "Sometimes. It isn't very common, though. As far as I know we don't reproduce the way humans do, but that doesn't mean we can't, just that I haven't ever seen it happen. So if it _can_, it's really very rare. And at least with humans, reproducing seems to be the main reason they fall in love and things like that."

"That's true." He admitted. "But...okay, this is _very_ forward of me, but do you have a boyfriend? Or someone that you're seeing, that you care about, not as a friend, but as something more?"

"Well, everyone expected me to fall for Angemon." She chuckled quietly. "Just because we're both 'angel types'. But he's got someone else he likes. He's just being very quiet about it because he doesn't like to advertise. We're very close anyway, though, so he told me about them. And I think I almost loved Wizarmon, but it didn't work out right." She would've laughed if it wasn't so completely not funny. "Getting killed does tend to make relationships very unworkable. But to answer your question...no, I don't. It's not easy for partner Digimon to have a relationship, because so much of our lives revolves around our partners already, and a lot of people can't seem to accept that."

Adam nodded quietly. "I think I could. I know what it's like to have a chunk of your life given over to someone or something else, to the exclusion of everything else. That's what it's like to be a Power Ranger."

"Only being a Digimon partner isn't something you can pass on to someone else." Angewomon reminded him. "It's a lifetime commitment. Maybe a lot of lifetimes, we don't know."

"That wouldn't bother me." They were both looking at each other carefully as they headed closer to the mountain, and the small cave they could see at it's base, more as a shadow than anything else at the moment. "Not at all."

Angewomon nodded in acceptance, feeling as if they'd crossed some kind of threshold in whatever it was they had together. She asked her next question carefully. "Adam, there's been something that I was wondering about you." He glanced at her, one eyebrow raised, and she plunged ahead with it. "Are _you_ seeing anyone? Is there someone who has a special place in _your_ heart?"

He took a few extra minutes to think things over, wanting to be honest, checking every female he knew against his internal emotions. "Not in the sense of wanting to date them. All the Rangers...I care about them all, but it's not quite being romantic." He chuckled. "I was almost certain I was going to fall for one of them." He totted the numbers up in his head. "Only two that I can think of haven't fallen in love with another Ranger, of the ones who are in a permanent romantic situation. And considering there's been about twenty or so of us all total, not counting the Aquitian Rangers, I always thought the odds were good it would happen to me." He shrugged. "For a while I did date another Ranger."

"You did? Who?"

"Tanya Sloan. It didn't quite work out, though. She had a music career ahead of her, and I just couldn't quite seem to settle down into anything at the time. I've been thinking about trying to leave Earth permanently. Have you heard of the Terra Venture project?"

The angel considered for a few moments. "I think I heard something, but it's just not coming to mind right now."

"Well, a huge spacecraft is being built. My friend Billy is working on it, that's how I got here in the first place. He was trying to figure out if he could get the old teleportation system we used in the old days to work right, and apparently something went a little haywire." Adam chuckled. "Not that I plan on objecting _too_ much. But anyone who works on the project has the offer to go if they want to. I've been thinking about it."

Angewomon tried not to panic. She hardly knew him and he was thinking about running off the planet??? No! He couldn't do that! She hadn't seen _nearly_ as much of him as she wanted to! There had to be a way to keep him here!! _Wait, what am I thinking?? He's a free person, he has the right to choose what he does...but..._ "I could never leave Earth, or the Digital World, permanently. I belong to both of them. I don't mind visiting, like this here, but there's still so much I want to see and do there. I just couldn't leave."

He didn't say anything for a few moments. "I don't know if I want to. I just know that I want something different. Something that isn't what I've seen and done every day for the last few years."

She laid a hand on his shoulder in a companionable manner. "Have you done things like _this_ every day for years?" He had to admit that he hadn't, and he smiled.

"Maybe I do need a change of scenery...but not _that_ much of one." He smiled even more. "So...just what _is_ the weather like in Japan this time of year?"

* * *

From a distance, the mountain had been huge enough. Standing beside it's base, it seemed to touch the sky. Both of them looked up at it in undisguised awe.

"I guess the Shrine is inside." Adam laid a careful hand on the side of the mountain, peering inside the shadowy opening. He couldn't be all that certain, but from this particular angle, it didn't look as if the shadows should be falling _quite_ like this. _Actually, I'm almost sure they shouldn't be. It's almost noon, and these shadows shouldn't even __**be**__ here._

Angewomon nodded, hardly able to get her mind wrapped around the fact she was so near to her goal. She refused to show it, but her nerves were being stretched to their breaking point by how long she'd had to wait and the separation from her partner. "Then let's get to it. Dulcea said we'd be tested...I want to get this done with and go home."

The entrance was just big enough for one of them to pass at a time, and he motioned for her to go first. It wasn't mere courtesy, this was _her_ quest, and he was really just a glorified bodyguard, if that. She entered slowly, her hands touching the sides of the corridor to feel her way in the darkness, and her wings folded closely to her back.

"Does it get any bigger in there?" Adam asked as he started to follow her.

"Not that I can tell right now." Angewomon frowned; it was the next thing to impossible to tell just what was ahead of her. Usually she could see decently no matter how dark it was, but right now, only the deepest of blackness spilled out before her. "I don't like this."

He entered carefully, his fingers and feet gently probing ahead of him, checking for anything that could be a trap or a problem of any kind. "Neither do I. Is there enough room for you to fly if you have to?"

She reached up a hand to feel for the ceiling, and frowned. "I don't think so. The ceiling's not that high. I can touch it with my fingertips."

Adam reached up himself, trusting her word, but wanting to be certain for himself. "That's not good. Be careful, if there's a gap or a chasm or something, this could end up a way that neither one of us would like."

Angemon nodded, feeling ahead of her the best she could, letting one foot probe ahead to make certain the ground was solid and there wasn't anything they would trip over or fall through. "I don't know if I'd be reformatted if I died here, anyway, and I _know_ you wouldn't be, humans never are."

"Reformatted?"

"Digimon don't die, not the way humans do, usually." She moved ahead carefully. "A lot of it depends on just what happens when we die. If we give up all of our energy for something, a final strike attack, then we generally are returned to our Digital Eggs. They can reform in the Village of Beginnings or right where we died. There's no real pattern which, I've heard of it happening both ways. And I've heard that Digimon who don't have partners and are killed to be eaten by other Digimon don't ever come back as eggs."

Adam looked a little startled; that was nothing something he'd ever heard or considered. "You're serious?"

"Of course." She sighed as she probed her way ahead. "I do know that Wizarmon was killed in the human world by Vamdemon, and he never came back, not as an egg."

The qualification caught at his ear. "What did he come back as?"

She didn't answer for a moment, and when she did, he could clearly hear an abiding sadness in her voice. "A ghost. He gave his life to protect me and Hikari from Vamdemon, and his ghost remained where he was. It took three years, but we were able to see him just once more. I've always hoped that since the Digital Gates opened up permanently, his data might find it's way back to the Digital World and be able to reform into an egg, but it hasn't yet."

_No one should hurt like that._ Adam would've given everything he could for the chance to bring Angewomon's friend back for her. "How would you be able to know if he was...reformatted?" That was definitely an odd way to put it, but if it was what fit...

"Elecmon would know. He can tell if a Digimon has had a life before, and sometimes what they might evolve up into. But there haven't been any Mokumon hatched out in years."

"Mokumon?"

Angewomon nodded, though she knew it was too dark for him to see the motion. "It's Wizarmon's Baby I stage, right out of the egg. He's an Adult level. He goes from Mokumon, Petit Meramon, Bakumon, and finally Wizarmon. He never evolved past that, so I don't know what else his line is."

She might've kept on going, but the fingers that she'd kept trailing carefully on the roof suddenly had nothing underneath them. "Wait a second, Adam." She lifted her hand up carefully, expecting to feel stone touching them at any second. When she didn't, she carefully extended her wings, testing how much space was now around her. "I think I might have enough room to fly."

"Be careful." He advised. "We don't know what's out there. I wish there was some light in here. I don't like not being able to see."

"Neither do I. I'm not going to try and fly yet. I have to see where I'm going."

The two of them inched forward a little more, and as far as Angewomon could tell, the tunnel they were in was widening out with every step, until they had enough space there to walk side by side.

"I'm starting to get a little worried." Adam murmured. "Those tests...why haven't we run into anything yet?"

Angewomon shrugged. "I don't know. Maybe because we haven't actually _gotten_ to the shrine yet?" She winced a little at the tone. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to sound so snippy."

"It's all right, I know you didn't mean..." Adam's voice trailed to a halt as he saw something ahead of them: light. Light that poured down from above, and seemed to be slightly to the side. Questing fingers told them there was a corner to the wall, and carefully they turned...

To see spread out before them a cavern of glittering crystal, the light refracting over and over to create a blinding sparkle of rainbow fire. With their eyes accustomed to the shadows of the corridor they'd followed to get here, it took a few minutes for either of them to be able to see anything more than the dazzle, but once their eyes cleared, it was very obvious what was there.

Hanging in midair, with nothing supporting it that they could see, was a crystal that flashed alternately white, gold, and violet, just the right size to fit into one's hand. Both of them knew just on site that this was what they had come for. _This_ was the Angelic Talisman.

"Welcome to the Shrine of Salnos, Angewomon, Digimon of Light, partner to Yagami Hikari, Chosen Child of Light, and Adam Park, Black Ninjetti, Chosen by the Frog, former Black Ranger, former Green Zeo Ranger, former Green Turbo Ranger." The voice was cool and distant and held no touch of any given gender, and echoed with authority and crispness. "You have come far to claim the Angelic Talisman."

Angewomon stepped forward. "Will you give it to me? The Digital World's been under attack by Demon, _anything_ could've happened while I was gone! We were told we were going to be tested, but nothing's happened. I don't want to steal it. I'll bring it back if I have to, but we _need_ it to save my home!"

There was a pause, and then... "You risked the safety of your partner human to come here without her, an act that could have resulted in her death, and still may. You slowed your pace, despite the risk, to aid a stranger. You entered a strange and unknown place, where you could not fly to fight as you are used to and best at, trusting the directions another stranger gave to you. If you had failed in any of these, then all would have been lost for the Digital World and all that you love."

Adam stepped forward, his eyes flashing with anger. "Don't you even try to deny this to her! Dulcea said that the Talisman was placed here for safety, not to be hidden away forever. Angewomon needs this thing to save her world, and it's not doing anything here besides hanging around gathering dust!"

"You, human, have been careless in sending a proper message to the friend you know is mad with worry over you, and who blames himself over what happened with the transportation device. You aided someone you did not know and did not deny the power granted back to you, though you could have gone on without it."

Both had the mental impression that whoever was speaking was turning to look at them both. "Speak your reasons for these actions. Why have you endangered those who care about you? If a world is worth one person, is not a person worth one world? Angel of the Digital World, speak first."

Angewomon's mind raced, then she spoke. "Yes, a person is worth a world. And a world is worth a person. But _not_ coming to get the Talisman would do more than hurt one person. It would hurt, it would _destroy_ two worlds. I couldn't call myself an angel, or a Chosen Digimon, or the Digimon of Light, if I let myself sit back and do nothing. Demon _can't_ be defeated as long as he has the Talisman of Shadow, unless we have the Angelic Talisman! I _won't_ let the Digital World and everyone I care about be destroyed because I could've went for the one thing that could defeat him and didn't!!"

There was a pause, and the air seemed to ring with the truth and passion in her words. No one said anything, then the dispassionate voice spoke again. "Adam Park, Black Frog Ninjetti, speak."

"I know I should've sent a message back to Billy, but I didn't really have a way, or a chance. The communicators don't work well enough right now to send a message with them all the way from Phaedos to Earth, and as far as I know, Dulcea doesn't have any way to contact him either. I would have if I could. But Angewomon needed my help and I won't turn down someone who really needs me." He felt himself blush somewhat. "Plus, I wanted to help her. I've never met anyone like her before, and I want to spend as much time as I can with her. I like her...a lot." He hesitated a moment, then plunged ahead. "I don't know if she likes me the way that I think I like her, but even if she doesn't, I want to be her friend. What she's doing is right, and that's what matters. I'll apologize to Billy when I can, but I don't regret what I've done. It's what's right. And that's what matters."

Once again, the air rang with the conviction in his words, and Angewomon looked at him with an amazed, and tender smile. Anything they might've said was interrupted by the voice.

"And that, dear ones, is why you were chosen to be what you are. You do what is right, not what is convenient or even what seems to be right. Doing the right thing is sometimes hard and can cause pain, but it will sometimes bring joy. Angewomon, hold out your hands." She did so, and the flashing crystal slowly lowered itself to them, resting there like a piece of the sun. There was a sudden flicker of light, and when they both could see clearly, the Talisman was resting against her neck like a pendent. "I believe you'll know what to do with this, warrior who defeated Vamdemon. But be wary: to win this victory, you must defeat the friend who wears an enemy's face."

Angewomon blinked in surprise. "What are you talking about?" There was only silence for an answer, and she and Adam looked at each other in a bit of confusion.

"I think that's it." He said at last. "That's all the answer you're getting."

"And I don't have time to wait around for a new answer." She frowned. "I need to get back to Japan, but I'm not all that certain of how."

Adam grinned. "Don't worry. I am. Just think about where it is you want to go." He reached out to place one hand on her shoulder, and smiled. "To those who are Ninjetti..._anything_ is possible." He thought hard about being where Angewomon needed to go, the image that was forming in her mind, though he couldn't see it for himself, he had faith that the power that he was a part of _could_ see it. For a heartbeat, nothing happened.

And then between one breath and the next, the only things in the cavern were the crystals themselves.

**To Be Continued**


	3. Let Loose The Dogmon of War

**Disclaimer:** I do not own any of the characters presented here and am not making any profit off of this whatsoever.  
**Story Title:** Being of Two Worlds  
**Chapter Title:** Let Loose The Dogmon of War  
**Story Word Count:** 27,071  
**Chapter Word Count:** 8,528  
**Rated:** PG-13  
**Romance:** Adam Park x Angewomon  
**Notes:** This is set after **Countdown To Destruction** and three years after the end of Digimon Adventure 02. Digimon are known to exist, but except for the partners of the international Chosen, have not spread out of Japan as of yet. Comments and criticism gratefully accepted.  
**Summary:** One former Power Ranger. One angelic female Digimon. One mission to save the world. And to fall in love with each other

* * *

Demon watched the proceedings with a cold and clinical eye. His troops were doing very well against the various teams of Chosen Children across the world. Not that he'd expected anything less. His murder of the blonde girl in that region...what did they call it again? Oh, yes, France. That had sent the proper message: he was not afraid or unwilling to attack the human partners, which had a _much_ more desirable effect on the Digimon than simply pounding on them. This made those human partners so much more reluctant to do anything besides hide behind trees and shout out warnings of attacks from behind. He'd had the chance to take out a few more of them when they did that, but he'd let it pass for now.

_I will kill more of them. Especially any who have partners who could evolve into anything holy or angelic. But just not yet._ He wanted to have a more certain hold on the two worlds first. Earth was his first target. He could deal with the Digital World once he had a firm stranglehold on the world of humans. Digimon were much easier to make cower and weep at the sight of him anyway. They were no challenge.

Conquering this world first was why he'd put his fortress here in the first place. He had a stable gateway that he could use to go back to the Digital World whenever he needed fresh troops or just a change of scenery, and it also made for a safe escape route should the Chosen Children actually find their way here. Which he doubted they would, it was simply too well protected.

His gaze shifted to the Phantomon who hovered beside him, and beneath his hood, unseen lips twisted into a cold and dark smirk. "Tell me, Phantomon, what visions of the future do you see for me now?"

There was no answer, and Demon hissed lightly, a whip of energy snaking out to lash across the Perfection level Digimon's back. "Answer me." Demon demanded, and his creature looked back at him with anger-filled eyes. The Ultimate wasn't bothered, though. He was firmly in control, and there was nothing this thing could do to stop him or even harm him.

"I see you and yours in a battle." The words were crisp and to the point, almost frigid. Demon had grown used to the tone, and permitted it to a degree. It made his slave feel better to think that he could resist him even in this small bit. Of course, there was no _real_ resistance to Demon's power, but the Demon Lord was willing to let Phantomon think so. Crushing hope was so amusing.

As was this. "We have been in _many_ battles, Phantomon, elaborate." He twitched his fingers slightly, and smirked to see the Ghost Digimon recoiling in pain. "And do so swiftly. If I get bored, you know what might happen."

Phantomon shuddered briefly, then did his best to compose himself. His eyes went distant and very remote as he used the clairvoyance granted to those of his kind to see what there was to be seen. "There is a battle." His voice assumed the tone that meant he was Seeing properly. "The forces of evil are winning. There is pain everywhere."

Demon smirked, he liked the sound of that a great deal. He didn't even have to indicate for Phantomon to continue.

"There is a light. A _great_ light that shines like the sun. Angewomon..."

Demon sat up straighter, his eyes flaring with fury. "_What??_" He hadn't seen the annoying blonde witch for a few days now, and he was almost starting to wonder what had happened. Not that he _cared_, he simply was wary of the position of all the angel and holy type Digimon. The Talisman of Shadow protected him from their power, but even it had it's antithesis. If one of those found it...

"Angewomon bears a crystal that glows, now white, now violet, now gold. It hangs over her heart and she carries in her soul the weapon that will destroy you."

Demon's ice-blue eyes flamed in demonic fury. "This _will_ not be. I will _not_ allow it." In a blast of temper he knocked Phantomon to the side, jarring him out of the trance he'd been in. "Go to the troops who are still stationed here. See to it that they're prepared for battle."

Phantomon hesitated for a heartbeat, and Demon lashed out at him with a ripple of energy. "Do not even _dare_ to disobey me!" The Demon Lord hissed in fury. "I will _not_ hesitate to destroy anything that stands in my way, and that includes _you_!" Blue eyes flashed with a gleam of insanity. "And those you care about."

Phantomon flinched back, then floated away silently. The only time he ever spoke was when Demon commanded it of him, and that was only for visions. Demon never even required him to call him master or grovel. That kind of posturing was reserved for lesser beings. Demon had more amusing ways of showing his dominance over those who ruled.

Demon mentally ran over a list of his troops, then sent out a magical summons to all of those who could get to him on short notice. The visions Phantomon had were never specific as to time, but combining those visions with Angewomon's recent disappearance told him that it was very likely the angel was going to be returning at any moment. _If she has the Angelic Talisman...what else could it be that he described? I've never seen it, but what else would she have went to retrieve that would be worthy of being Seen?_

He had put too much effort into _all_ of this to have it fall apart now. He had sucked as much dark energy from the Dark Ocean that he possibly could, putting his already enormous power levels far off any existing scale of measurements. Exiting the Dark Ocean had been simplicity itself. He could've done it from the moment they'd put him in, but there had been reasons he hadn't.

Demon was easily capable of sensing power, no matter where it hid. He had sensed very familiar power inside of the human Oikawa. Vamdemon held no fear for him, the vampire was merely a Perfection, and a very insane Ultimate at times. Demon knew how to control his power, it was a part of his essence. Vamdemon had always reached too far, too fast, and as a result had always gotten himself into trouble with his evolutions.

So when Oikawa had turned up, bearing the power and the spirit of Vamdemon within, Demon had made his plans carefully. Obviously the evil Digimon wasn't ready, or perhaps not capable, of emerging just yet. He was someone that the Chosen Children hated with a deep passion, and he _did_ have rather formidable powers, by some standards. The most logical thing to do was pretend to be banished, and then watch to see what happened next.

Being in the Dark Ocean gave him a wonderful view of the whole battle, and had taught him quite a few important lessons, not the least of which was that being ganged up on by twenty very pissed off Digimon _hurt_. That had also led to his decision to fight the Chosen Children on Earth, and nowhere _near_ that dream world. He knew he was tougher than BelialVamdemon could ever hope to be, especially after sucking up all the power he had, and having the Talisman of Shadows as well, but it was overconfidence that had defeated all those who had tried before him. He was not going to be like them.

Taking Phantomon had been one of his better ideas, one that had far reaching implications, he knew. Not only were Phantomon rare and gifted in many unusual arts, but this one had a history that would make him his most formidable weapon in the battle to come. _Having him serve me is an amusement in and of itself. But it will prove to be __**quite**__ useful when that Angewomon returns._

Demon reached up to brush a hand across a small dark gemstone set in the folds of his cloak. It was unnoticed by virtually everyone, but it's affects were impossible to miss. He smirked in memory of when that Angemon had evolved up to Holy Angemon and attempted a Heaven's Gate on him. _I don't think I've ever seen a Digimon be de-evolved that fast in all my life._ Holy Angemon had went back to Poromon so fast you'd think someone had cast a de-evolution spell on him. The blonde partner had been all upset and near-weepy, much to Demon's disgust. _When I'm ready to kill again, that pair will be the first. I thought I heard something once of that Angemon having died against Devimon when they first were in the Digital World, so you'd think he'd be used to it by now. Ah, humans are useless. They don't even make good playthings. They break and bleed far too easily._

Something caught his attention from the corner of his eye and he looked to see Phantomon hovering there in his near-eternal silence. "Have my orders been carried out?" The Demon Lord demanded. Phantomon nodded. "Good. See to it that _you're_ ready to fight as well." A human or a Digimon who didn't know Demon that well wouldn't have noticed, but Demon was smirking, his ice-blue eyes sparking with delicious evil. "I think it's time that the Chosen _really_ met you, my slave."

Phantomon looked a trifle taken aback and began to shake his head just a bit. Demon rose up to his full height and glowered down at him. "I don't think you quite understand, _Phantomon._" The word echoed with more than usual emphasis. "We _will_ use every weapon in my arsenal against them, and that includes you." Demon chuckled darkly. "Even if the winged witch has the Angelic Talisman, it's power is useless against _you_. It only works against the one who holds the Talisman of Shadow." He sneered even more. "And we all know she won't hurt _you_, will she?"

His slave just looked aside, and Demon laughed, the sound of it echoing throughout his dark fortress and reaching out into the surrounding countryside, chilling the souls of all who heard it, and making them wonder just what dark force had come to dwell among them.

* * *

It was just before dawn in Odaiba. Yagami Hikari watched the fading stars with a worried tinge to her eyes. Another night without Angewomon had passed, and another day that looked as if it were also going to pass without her partner being there with her.

_She's been gone so long._ She shuddered briefly in the predawn chill. _This is the third day._ She had never been so long without her partner since they had been reunited three years earlier. She knew that Angewomon could get along without her, but even so, it was a bit unnerving.

Even more so with the way Demon's attacks had been stepping up lately. Gennai had said that Angewomon would be safe on that 'Phaedos' place, but Hikari still worried. _If something happens and I can't be there to help her. Or worse, if something happened to __**me**__..._

She tried not to be too worried. After all, she'd been kept under virtual lock and key since Angewomon had left. If Demon had known that they were looking for the only obstacle to his power, and that it was Angewomon who had left, then she would have become a prime target. Gennai had made it very clear it had to be Angewomon, which meant Hikari had to be kept alive so her partner could use the Talisman once she got it back. _Though I would've surrendered if I thought it would have done any good._

She had known it wouldn't, though. Looking back, she still couldn't think of the reasoning that had led her to give herself over to Vamdemon when she was eight years old. _We didn't have the Crest of Light then, and he could've destroyed Tailmon and me without even trying hard. The only thing that saved us was his ego and a lot of luck. But that kind of luck doesn't strike twice in the same lifetime._

Hikari glanced back at the streak of light that touched the horizon, and avoided looking at her watch again. Time had crept by the last few days. _No word from Gennai since she left. Is that good or bad?_ She couldn't be sure.

_How is she even going to __**get**__ back? Gennai didn't tell her. There has to be a way, he wouldn't send her on a one-way trip._ She leaned back against the wall and sighed. Whenever Angewomon _did_ come back, with the Angelic Talisman or without it, there was going to be a battle. _And this'll be the last one._ She had been growing more and more sensitive to things with every passing year, and though she was nowhere near the level of foresight that she'd heard some Digimon could be, she _was_ aware some things were going to happen.

A flash of a dream she'd had the night before stirred back to her, and she shuddered faintly in memory. It had been horrible. The sensation of being pulled somewhere against her will, of dark and contaminating energy pouring all through her, making her into something she wasn't meant to be...

_No. That was just a dream._ She kept telling herself that, but she knew it wasn't. What foresight she had tended to come to her in her dreams, and this one had possessed a level of clarity that rang amazingly true.

"Awake already?" She didn't have to turn to know who it was. Taichi stood right behind her, she could feel the warmth of his presence, always big and comforting. "You should be getting your rest, Hikari." That was his standard question.

"I'm fine." That was her standard response.

Her brother put a hand on her shoulder. "You're still waiting for Angewomon, aren't you?"

"Yeah. She has to come back soon. You know what the last few battles have been like." Hikari turned slightly to look at him, and wasn't surprised to see that her brother was a little pale. Demon had been getting worse and worse with each strike, and since none of them could do anything against _him_, they were reduced to taking out his henchmon. That seemed to do very little, since he seemed to have a nearly endless supply of them. Their partners were getting a _lot_ of fighting experience, though.

The two siblings stood in silence for a few minutes, watching as the dawn slowly broke. This was a sight they'd seldom seen unless they were in the Digital World, but with Hikari hardly able to sleep with Angewomon gone, it was starting to become a familiar ritual. A single gleaming ray of sunlight shot across the sky, coming to rest almost precisely before Hikari, who stared at it in surprise. This had never happened before.

Her surprise turned into raw, pure, unadulterated joy as the light pulsed, most unlike sunlight, and where there had been nothing, there now stood an angel and a man in a black uniform. Hikari didn't bother noticing him, her attention was all swallowed up by the golden haired angel she had been waiting for. "Angewomon!! You're home!!"

"Hikari." Angewomon gently wrapped her arms around the teenager and smiled a bit wearily, but with evident joy. "It's good to be home. What's been going on?"

The Child of Light looked up at her. "Demon's attacked a few times. Nothing we couldn't handle, thank goodness, but a lot of trouble anyway. We haven't lost anyone else, that we know of. Did you..." Her question faded away in the wind as she saw the gleaming talisman nestled at Angewomon's throat.

"Yes. I got it. With Adam's help." She motioned to the young man who accompanied her. "We met on Phaedos and he decided to help me. Adam, this is my partner, Yagami Hikari."

Adam smiled politely at the young woman, and spoke in lightly accented Japanese. "It's nice to meet the person that Angewomon has spoken so highly of."

"Thank you for helping her, Adam-san." Hikari bowed slightly towards him, then indicated her brother. "This is my brother, Yagami Taichi, partner of Agumon, and the Chosen of Courage."

Taichi stepped closer and bowed as well. "Nice to meet you. I hope she told you what we were going up against?"

"She told me about Demon and the things he's done." Adam nodded. "I'm going to help you guys anyway that I can. I don't know if you've heard about us, but I used to be a Power Ranger, and I am still a Ninjetti warrior. I won't let evil of _any_ kind do any harm that I can prevent."

Hikari and Taichi looked a bit surprised, but Angewomon smiled gently at his statement. "He means it too." She glanced around. "I didn't think it was going to be this early when we got back. It was almost noon on Phaedos."

"You look like you're hungry." Taichi noted. "I'm not the chef Yamato is, but I can work up something. Besides, it's breakfast time for us."

As he hurried in to get to cooking, Hikari leaned back to get a better view of her partner. Now that Angewomon had returned, she had halfway expected the nervousness that had filled her to ease. Instead, she was feeling even more antsy. She flicked her eyes unobtrusively over to the stranger, and felt a faint shimmer of surprise. The way he was looking at Angewomon, and the way she was looking back at him...something in the way they were reacting around one another... _Did they fall in love??_

She wanted a chance to ask, but it wasn't the sort of thing one could really bring up in public, especially around someone she didn't really know. _I'll talk to her once we're alone,_ she decided. _But for now, I have an idea._ "So, what happened while you were gone? Tell me everything, please."

Angewomon nodded, then started to tell of all that had occurred since she had been sent to that far off planet. Hikari listened with careful attention paid to every word she said, analyzing it. It was times like this when she wished she were more like Sora or Miyako. _They_ would've known at once what was going on. Even Daisuke occasionally had an amazing level of perception when it came to what was going on in the human heart. But though she was aware in her own way of things, knowing when one person truly loved another was something that she had never quite figured out. It could've come in handy quite a few times, but even so, it was a skill she didn't possess. _Well, if he's going to be helping us out, maybe I can check with them on it._

"Then, we came back." Angewomon fingered the talisman at her throat gently. "We're going to have to fight Demon soon, Hikari. We can't wait around and let him find some way around this. Or worse."

Her partner nodded; what had happened to Catherine was still fresh in all of their minds. If Demon could get rid of her, then they were all done for.

"Breakfast is served!" Taichi called from inside, and all three trooped dutifully in to see the food spread out before them. "Eat up, I'll call the others and let everyone know that Angewomon's back with the Talisman."

"Remember, Daisuke, Takeru, Iori, and Miyako are all over at Ken's." Hikari reminded him. "They were going to be doing some kind of plotting session or something about a battle plan."

Taichi nodded; Hikari would've been with them, but since her partner was gone, she'd been sidelined until now. _Whatever they've got in mind, I hope it's good._ He got to dialing.

* * *

Adam watched quietly as the door opened again and again and various people and Digimon came in. He was introduced, but except for quick and polite greetings, no one seemed that interested in talking to him. The real topic was Angewomon and the Angelic Talisman.

"We still have to keep Hikari safe," Taichi overrode the various chattering as they tried to get Angewomon caught up on everything that had went on while she was away. "She's still the vulnerability."

The Child of Light rolled her eyes. "Thanks, Taichi. Glad to see you're still thinking of me as someone who can take care of herself."

"I'm serious, Hikari." Taichi looked at her. "You know that."

She was about to keep on complaining when the apartment building shook suddenly, and a voice that could only be described as the voice of evil echoed from outside. "Chosen Children! Your time has come!"

There was a collective groan from everyone and a blue-haired teenager that had been introduced to Adam as Ken shook his head. "Don't they ever come up with a better line than that?"

"Like you did any better." Daisuke shot back with a grin. Ken rolled his eyes as the group started to get up. "Come on, let's get rid of this guy."

"So, do we have a plan?" A violet haired girl asked. "Or are we just going to do like usual: throw everything we have and hope a lot?"

Angewomon touched the talisman. "Something like that." The words that the voice had spoken repeated themselves over and over in her mind. _He called me the warrior who defeated Vamdemon. He must mean for me to do what I did then. And what was that about a friend who wears an enemies' face?_ It was something very confusing, and she didn't like it, not so close to the battle that would more than likely settle things once and for all.

The group filed out in a solemn line. Adam wanted to stay close to Angewomon, but an instinct told him to keep an eye on the group as a whole. _I don't know what I can do, but I'm going to do __**something**__. I can feel it._

After the initial attack and challenge, everything had fallen silent. Once the group got outside, they could see why. Demon and his army had ranged themselves outside, looking at them all with calm confidence. At Demon's right hand was Phantomon, and at his left was a Blue Meramon, an icy cousin of the fiery Meramon. Other troops were ranged up and down the street, various Virii and evil Data types who had come to serve Demon. The Chosen Children were outnumbered at least three to one, if not more.

"So glad you decided to join us." Demon sneered at them. "It's time to end this."

Angewomon stepped forward, her eyes fastening on their enemy's. "I agree. You've caused more than enough trouble, and this _ends_."

Demon laughed at her. "Oh, it does, but not the way you think it will." Adam was fairly sure that he was smirking, and whatever it was that the Demon Lord was smirking about was bound to be trouble. "I believe that I've been remiss in my manners all this time. I haven't properly introduced you to my right hand 'mon Phantomon."

"He's no one any of us want to meet." Takeru hissed. He and Taichi had taken Catherine's death worse than any of the others, since they had known her the longest, and over the years had both taken trips back to Paris to visit with her.

Demon chuckled darkly, and placed a hand on Phantomon's shoulder. "Oh, but I think you _do_ want to meet him. He hasn't been with me all that long. Only about three years or so. He was so lost and alone when I found him. A ghost of his former self, you might say."

Hikari and Angewomon exchanged nervous glances. This was already starting to sound bad. Demon wasn't quite done yet, though.

"Out of the goodness of my heart---"

"Oh, come on, at least make it _sound_ believable!" Daisuke shouted. "We all know you don't have any goodness, and the jury's still out on if you have a heart!"

Demon gave the cinnamon haired Chosen Child a _look_, and Daisuke just grinned back at him. "Hey, if you want to cut to the chase and get to the part where we pound you into the dirt, I'm certainly up for it. All this exposition is boring anyway."

The Demon Lord appeared to agree for a moment, as he casually forced Phantomon to what passed for his knees, then looked up at the assembled defenders of two worlds. "Very well, since _some_ of us appear to have the attention span of a Gnatmon, we'll hurry right along. I captured the spirit of your precious Wizarmon three years ago and managed to persuade him to continue along a proper viral evolution line." He laughed darkly. "As Phantomon, he has been able to see the future, and keep me advised of all your plans. He's been so _very_ helpful."

Angewomon stared down at Phantomon, fighting back the urge to fly down and rip him away from Demon. "Wizarmon?"

Phantomon looked up at her, and for the first time they heard his voice. "Angewomon."

Many Digimon changed voices when they evolved or de-volved, due to the difference in vocal cords, but quite often there was a similarity in tone. The voice wasn't one hundred percent identical, but as their eyes met, Angewomon realized something she never had before. Most Phantomon had light blue eyes, cool and remote as if they were seeing things far away all the time. _This_ Phantomon had eyes as green as emeralds. Only one Digimon had ever had eyes like that, and they had always turned to her with this same look in them.

Her wings snapped out and she rose off the ground, fury filling her like it never had before, the righteous wrath of all those who have been wronged. "Your crimes have gone on for long enough, Demon! This ends!"

Demon laughed coldly, the shadowy power of his Talisman surrounding him. "I think not! Step towards me, and your precious little friend here will be the one to destroy you!" There was a definite smirk in his tone. "Phantomon obeys _me_ and no one else!"

Angewomon raised one hand, ready to fight any way she could, but even as she did, her eyes couldn't seem to leave Phantomon's. His eyes, Wizarmon's eyes, penetrated right into her soul. The friendship between them had always been deep, and she couldn't bring herself to make a move. She could feel her hand starting to fall, and tried not to let it, to no avail.

Demon laughed, the sound sending chills down everyone's spine. "I hate to sound so cliché but...I told you so. He's _mine_!"

"Release him!" Angewomon shouted, preparing a Holy Arrow. "I have the Angelic Talisman, Demon, I _can_ hurt you now!"

"Go ahead." Demon's hand tightened on Phantomon's shoulder. "Hit me and you hit your little friend here. I'm sure you know what _that_ would do."

Angewomon shuddered; she remembered when Angemon had attacked Vamdemon. The evil vampire had been knocked to his knees by the power of the holy blast, but the Phantomon beside him had been deleted just by the backwash of it. _And he's just an Adult. I might kill Demon, but I'd also take out Phanto...Wizarmon._ She shuddered again. "I can't do it..."

"I know." Demon laughed. "I'll accept your surrender whenever you like. This world is _mine_!"

"This world is ours." A powerful kick knocked the Demon Lord back only a few steps, but it was enough. Adam picked Phantomon up and leaped back to where the others were, his Ninjetti powered muscles carrying them both as if they were made of nothing more substantial than air.

Demon whirled almost at once, regaining his balance, and glared in the direction of the offending person. "Who are you that dares to interfere with me??"

"Adam Park." Adam grinned almost mockingly at the evil Digimon. "Black Ninjetti of the Frog. Helped Angewomon get the Angelic Talisman."

The dark lord raised his hands, preparing a blast of his attack. He didn't get the chance to fire it off, however. Phantomon lifted himself carefully off of Adam's shoulder and turned quickly, his scythe appearing in his hands. "I reject you and everything that you've ever done to me. I am not your creature any longer. I am a free Digimon...and I am _your_ enemy!! Shadow Scythe!!"

Demon let the attack go through him, and grinned. "I am an _Ultimate_, you idiot. That attack won't even cut a thread on my robe! There isn't anything that any of you can do to me!"

"You're wrong." Angewomon rose up again, reenergized with the release of her friend. "_I_ can do something to you. I have the Angelic Talisman and you have no protection!"

Demon's eyes lit up with darkest fury as the dark shadow around him increased. "Then try it, _Perfection_!! Try it and see just how little effect your puny Talisman will have on me!" He pointed towards them, his attack glowing brightly. "Flame---"

"_Oh no you don't!!_" Angewomon snapped the words out sharply, bringing her hands over her head as they began to glow with a rainbow sheen. "_Heaven's Charm!!_"

Demon found himself frozen in place, his attack halting as the same rainbow glow encircled him. "What is this!??"

"The end." Phantomon said quietly, looking to his angelic friend. "It's time."

Angewomon nodded, and in moments, she was surrounded by a group of Ultimate, Perfection, and Adult level Digimon, all ready to fight in any way they could. The original Chosen Children were there, as were those who had once been the Dark Spore Children of Oikawa. A few visiting international Chosen were also there, Micheal standing beside his friend Mimi, Chichos near Ken and Yamato, and all the others who were there standing with friends they had met three years ago and friends they had made on this trip.

"Everyone!!" Phantomon looked at them all. "Give your power to Angewomon! There's only one way to do this!"

"Saint Aim!" Angewomon felt the power of the attack growing in her, and she prepared as each of the Digimon there added their strength and energy to the blast waiting to be shot. The power was building far faster and far more than she'd ever imagined it would, and she knew it would be enough to shatter the Talisman of Shadow, and wound Demon.

_We can't just wound him. We have to destroy him. It's the only way._ But there was no one else, no one who had any power to help or give, none of the others could get there in time, it wasn't going to work...

Her eye fell on Adam and the answer came to her. "Adam! Help us!!"

The Black Ninjetti looked up, and she knew he knew what to do. He concentrated as hard as he could, a glow of his own forming around him. "Ninjetti!" He declared. "The Frog!"

The shot of black light zipped towards her, and then it joined with the others, and it was all they needed. She pointed at Demon, the power shaping itself into an arrow of all colors. "_Holy Arrow!!_"

In the end, it was all too simple. A single arrow with all the power of Digimon and Ninjetti combined. It tore through the Talisman of Shadow and through Demon, and the dark power of the evil Digimon shattered and was no more.

They had won.

* * *

Billy was not in a good mood. To say he was on the edge of insanity would have been a lot more accurate. Three days ago Adam had vanished, and there hadn't been any word from him _anywhere_. The ex-Blue Ranger was more than ready to come out of his skin.

_Where in the universe did I __**send**__ him?_ He refused to think about the possibility that wherever it was, it was a place humans couldn't survive in. The thought he might have accidentally murdered his friend sent chills down his spine. Bad ones.

He looked through every record he had available on what he'd been doing. There was nothing he could find that would in any way indicate how things had screwed up. _Something_ had to be there, though, some clue, some inkling. But there wasn't.

_Great._ The genius slumped back into his chair and sighed. _Now what do I do? Try and tell his parents that their son is halfway to who knows where?_ That just didn't feel right. There was a chance that Adam was alive somewhere, and just couldn't get to where he could communicate that fact.

He couldn't escape the guilt that was hanging over his head for this. He'd been so certain that nothing would go wrong. He wasn't even sure really what _had_ gone wrong. It just had happened. _I don't suppose I should be too surprised._

Billy looked down at the phone perched neatly on the table beside him and started to reach for it. At the least he could tell them some comfortable lie that would make sure they didn't worry any more than they already had. They hadn't called him up, so he was fairly sure Adam hadn't told them he was coming to visit his ex-teammate. _Which means I don't have to say anything that'll conform to stuff they already know._ As far as he could remember, Adam hadn't told his parents about the fact he used to be a Ranger. Only the Astro Rangers were world-famous, and they had bluntly stated that they weren't going to reveal who their predecessors had been, for the safety of said predecessors.

In the moment that his hand landed on the phone, it rang sharply. He stared at it briefly in that uncomprehending way so many of us have when we receive a call we weren't expecting, especially when we were about to make a call. He picked the phone up, wondering just who it was that could be calling him right now. _With my luck it's his parents._ "Hello?"

"Billy?"

The young genius felt his eyes bugging out of his head. "_Adam_?? Where in the universe are you??"

The answer was not really what he was expecting. "Tokyo, Japan. Odaiba to be precise."

Billy stared at the phone as if he wouldn't be all that surprised to find it starting to attack him rabidly. "You're _where_??" Adam repeated his location and Billy shook his head in shock. "The teleporter sent you across half the planet three days ago, to where you can't take five steps without turning over a cell phone and you just _now_ get to calling me?"

"Well, actually I was teleported to Phaedos."

The ex-Ranger did a very surprised doubletake. "_Phaedos_?"

"Phaedos."

"And what did you do on Phaedos?"

"Met a girl. A Digimon, really."

Billy was almost certain he was hearing things. "You met a Digimon on Phaedos?"

"That's what I said, isn't it?"

"You met a _Digimon_ on _**Phaedos**_?" Billy _knew_ he had to be hearing things right now. "The most untechnological planet in the universe and you met a _Digimon_? A creature _born_ from technology???" Billy paused for a moment. "Hey, did you mean met as in _met_ or met as in _I like this person and I'm going to date them_?"

He was almost certain he could hear Adam grinning. "Option two."

"You're going to date...a Digimon..."

"I think I am. I haven't actually asked her yet but..." Billy could _very_ definitely hear something special in Adam's voice. Whoever this Digimon was, it wasn't just some random creature.

"So, who is it? What is it? What _happened_? I want details, Adam, lots and lots of details...is it just me or am I channeling Kimberly?"

Adam chuckled quietly. "Kimberly? Is that you? Has Billy been playing with that thing of his that switched your brains?"

"Funny, Adam, funny." Billy rolled his eyes, not caring that his friend couldn't see him. "Remind me never to tell you stories of things that happened before you showed up again. Or at least to spread around certain embarrassing stories to certain Digimon you claim to like. Like a certain person currently once more going under the name of 'Sabrina'."

"So, let me tell you what's been going on over here." Adam had picked up a few tips on 'how to change the subject fast' from Rocky it seemed.

Billy paid strict attention as his friend filled him in with terse words and quick summaries of the events that had occurred since his unexpected jaunt across the cosmos. "Adam, you're kind of leaving the interesting parts out here, you know."

"I am calling long distance, you know, on someone else's phone number."

Billy frowned slightly. "Okay, I want the whole story, so I'm going to have to get to where you are to talk to you it seems. And I want to meet this new friend of yours."

"Hop the nearest flight to Tokyo then. I'd bring you myself but I'm a little exhausted right now. I haven't properly slept since I left you and I've had to help save the world, and I'm a bit out of practice."

"Bring me yourself?" Was there something that Adam had left out of his recitation?

Adam broke off a deep yawn. "Oh, that's right. I forgot to tell you. I got my Ninjetti powers back from Dulcea. It's the whole 'I can do anything' thing again. Or at least I can when I've had some sleep."

Billy did the mental calculations and frowned even more. "It's almost seven here, so it's ...almost eleven in the morning, tomorrow, for you, right?"

"Right. Trust me, I need some sleep. I've been through at least three time zones, or worse, in the last few days. I need a real bed and I'm going to get one. If you're coming, hop a flight and get here. I'll tell you everything as soon as I can."

"All right, all right. I'll see you as soon as I can. And if you leave out so much as _one_ detail..." Billy's voice promised dire threats and retributions in return. Adam just laughed wearily. The exhaustion in his voice had become more and more prominent with every word he spoke.

"I know, I know. I'll see you when you get here."

Billy nodded, then something hit him. "Wait a second! You have the Ninjetti power, where we've been told time and time again that we can do 'anything' with it...and _you didn't bother to contact me_??"

Adam gulped audibly. "Um...I forgot?"

"You forgot." Billy delivered a glare of death towards the phone. "You forgot."

"Sorry?" Adam almost whispered, and Billy was fairly sure the reason his friend had forgotten wasn't because he was careless, but was because of that Digimon he'd met. "Well, I do have to go, Billy. You can ream me out later over it."

"Don't think I won't."

"All right. Bye." Adam hung up and Billy looked at his phone for a moment or two. He was used to processing vast amounts of information in nothing flat, but this was overloading even _his_ brain. He hung up and leaned back, trying to get his mind wrapped around all the things that had just happened.

_All right. Adam has met a Digimon. Adam is possibly __**dating**__ a Digimon._ That much he could grasp. He'd wanted to meet one of the digital creatures since he'd first heard about them, but hadn't ever had the chance. Until now.

Now he had a chance. Now his friend had met one _first_. Billy felt like strangling something but wasn't exactly certain just what offhand, or how. He wasn't _romantically_ jealous of Adam, but he _was_ definitely...well, he wasn't certain just what the appropriate term was, but he was jealous. Adam had gotten to one first. _Angewomon, he said. I think I remember seeing that one on TV once or twice. Blonde, I think. He always liked blondes._

For a moment Billy simply let his mind digest everything that had went on. Then he grabbed his laptop and started searching for the fastest, cheapest, most quickly available flight to Tokyo possible.

* * *

"So what do we do now?" The question was asked by Taichi as the group assembled in the Yagami apartment late the next day. They'd gotten lucky; since Demon had started his periodic attacks, a lot of people in the area had moved out for the duration, letting the Chosen Children handle things, since they were the experts, and the only ones who _could_ handle them. That meant there hadn't been any civilian casualties and the few injuries had been taken care of by those with first aid skills.

"Well, I need to look for an apartment." Adam had made the decision to stay here in Tokyo. No one who saw how he and Angewomon looked at each other could ever doubt why. No official statements had been made, but it was rather obvious in the quiet looks and occasional brushes of hands. "And a job."

"And we have to do something about Demon's army." Wizarmon said quietly. He had startled them all by being able to de-evolve back to his Adult stage, but none of them could say they missed his higher form. He was uninjured, if somewhat shaken by everything that had happened, and he and Angewomon had been quite busy catching up on things. "They scattered when he was defeated, but they'll try something else, I'm sure. That Blue Meramon was his real second in command."

Angewomon smiled faintly. "I don't think he's anything we can't handle, my friend. Will you be helping us?"

"If I can." Wizarmon looked down slightly. "I'd like to be able to."

"Then do it." Everyone looked up at the voice, whether they recognized it or not. Standing before them was a familiar brunette wearing a tan robe, with a sword belted to his side. "All anyone ever has needed to help is just the willingness to do it. And you have that, Wizarmon."

Hikari's eyes light up at the sight of him. "Gennai! What are _you_ doing here?"

"Oh, just a few things that need doing." Gennai walked over to where Adam and Billy, who had arrived earlier that morning, were filling each other in on the things that had happened. "Welcome, chosen of Zordon." Gennai bowed politely. "It has been some time since I have spoken with any of your kind, and know that I grieved for his passing as much as any of you." He spoke first in Japanese, then shifted to flawless English to repeat what he had just said.

Billy looked rather startled. "You knew Zordon?"

"He made his own trips to the Digital World, in his own fashion." Gennai smiled faintly. "We were good friends. I am pleased to see that he chose so well with the two of you." His eyes flicked to Adam. "And you have fallen in love with Angewomon, it seems."

Adam stuttered and stammered, turning an amazing shade of red. He wasn't ashamed of his feelings, but to have them stated so blatantly was a bit on the shocking side. "I...um...well...yes."

"Good." Gennai nodded approvingly. "The two of you will be very good for each other. But there's someone you can do even _more_ good for, though not quite in the same way."

As he provided a translation of what he was saying to those who didn't understand, everyone started to look at each other, wondering just what it was that he meant. Gennai smiled, then motioned to Wizarmon. "Though you have not felt it yet, the guilt and rage and grief for all that you _have_ done as Demon's Phantomon is within you, awaiting a moment when your defenses are down to strike at you. You have your friends and your life experience to guide you, to let you know that what you did was not something you would have done willingly. But there is one thing you do not have that can help you. All need this, some more than others, and you are one of those who needs it more." Gennai intoned. "This is a gift, a reward, and a guide for the future all in one."

Wizarmon looked very confused, as did all the others. That confusion lasted only until Gennai reached out his hand flat, palm up. There was a flash of light, and seated neatly in the center of it was a D-3. It's main color was green, and where other D-3's were white, this one was black. He turned to Adam and offered it to him. "This is yours, Adam Park, Black Ninjetti, Chosen of the Frog."

Adam stared at it in shock, his eyes going from Gennai to the D-3 and back again. "What??"

"It's yours. You are an official Chosen." Gennai's eyes danced a bit. "Perhaps not a Chosen Child, since you are hardly a child, but if you intend to make any kind of relationship with Angewomon, you're going to need to be able to cross back and forth between the worlds, since she is a creature of the Digital World and you are a creature of _this_ world."

Adam looked rather as if someone had hit him on the head with a very large board. "But wouldn't I need a partner? I mean, I thought---"

"What do you think I was talking to Wizarmon about?" Gennai rolled his eyes. "You might not be a child, but you do seem to miss things a great deal. You and Wizarmon are to be partners: if you both want it. This is something you must decide for yourselves. Being a Chosen and their partner is not something that is for lack of a better word...child's play. It can be very dangerous." Gennai's voice went quiet and firm. "It can even be fatal. So long as _you_ live, your partner will return. But if you die somehow..."

There was silence in the room, and Wizarmon bowed his head in remembrance of the death he had caused. Adam thought over all the things he had seen and heard in the last few days. His eyes trailed over to Angewomon, who was looking back at him with a calm confidence that made him feel very strange inside. Wizarmon sat beside her, not looking at anything but the floor.

Adam made his decision. _It's the only one I __**can**__ make. It's what's right. Not just so I can be with Angewomon, but...Wizarmon needs someone. Someone to talk to. To help him._ He didn't know if he was the best for the job, maybe Tommy or Katherine, with their long term experience in being evil, would be, but he did know that he was the one being offered the job. He reached out a hand and touched the D-3. "I'll do it."

As his fingers brushed the device, it burst into a brilliant spill of white light, filling the room with it's brilliance. Once it faded, Adam felt a part of him that he'd never even known was there in the first place was now awake and deliriously happy. He picked the D-3 up and looked at it for a moment. He knew he would never be fully complete unless he had it with him now, it and Wizarmon and Angewomon. This was his life now, and it was one he didn't mind one bit.

Wizarmon looked at him, and Adam was almost certain that his new...partner was smiling at him. A tired smile perhaps, but one all the same.

"And now that _that_ has been completed," Gennai looked rather smug as he stepped back. "I have things that have to be done elsewhere. It's been wonderful meeting everyone, and I'll see you all again sometime."

With a flicker, he was gone, as if he had never been. But there was still the new D-3 in Adam's hand to prove that he had been. The newest of the Chosen smiled a bit, then looked at his partner. "I'm not really all that certain of just what is usual to do right now...but I know _I'm_ starving. We still haven't had lunch, you know." After the battle, all of them had been more interested in cleanup and sleep to worry that much over food.

Yamato stood up quite gracefully. "I can deal with that." He headed on into the kitchen, his partner Gabumon following along and suggesting various dishes. Adam had gotten the idea that even though this was the Yagami apartment, the various friends were all close enough that they didn't have to ask to use some things.

"So." Adam looked over to see Daisuke looking at him. "You're in love with Angewomon?" The redhead grinned at him then tried to look blustery. With his near perpetual grin, that just didn't go over very well. "You're not a _real_ Power Ranger, are you? If you guys are all that great, why didn't you help stop all the problems we had over here?" He started to list off a very long list of annoyances that Adam had never even heard of. He had an answer, though.

"Well, we were kind of busy fighting off Rita, Zedd, Master Vile, Ivan Ooze, the Machine Empire, Divatox, and a few others." Adam grinned back at him. "We're not _that_ great, we can only handle a couple of major threats per continent."

Daisuke stared, awe written all over his face. "Oh." He reached down to pick up his own small partner, a blue bundle of adorability. "I'll bet you couldn't beat _him_! Show him the chocolate face, Chibimon!"

Chibimon turned to Adam with a look that would have probably melted the heart of Dark Spectre and turned him into a puddle of goo. Adam and Billy both stared in complete shock. How could _anything_ be that..._**cute**_???

Daisuke grinned smugly. "Thought so."

Adam chuckled softly, then looked at Angewomon. "Chibimon might be the cutest thing around, but _you_ are the most beautiful." The words slipped out of him without a moment's thought, and Angewomon blushed softly. Adam slipped a little closer to her, and smiled. "So...are you busy this weekend?"

"I don't think so." Angewomon smiled quietly at him. "I could show you around the Digital World, if you're interested. There's a lot to see there."

"I'd like that." Adam had never before in his life felt this complete. He could hear Billy, Koushirou, and Miyako getting into some kind of technical discussion behind him, and Wizarmon was watching him and Angewomon with an approving gleam to his eyes, and he could feel the power of Ninjetti filling him once again.

The Chosen of the Frog looked into the face of his beloved angel, and he knew that at long last, he was really home.

The End 


End file.
